Incest... Not... Opps... Strike That

[NowISeetheLight]

A new Kentucky Republican legislator had introduced a bill that included removing "first cousin" from the incest law.

Nothing like Talibangelical Family Values!

Anyway... After it went viral he quickly backtracked and put "first cousin" back in, saying it was a mistake.

SURE IT WAS!!!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article284338699.html

Unbelievable..

Wilson said he filed the bill to “combat a problem of familial and cyclical abuse that transcends generations of Kentuckians.” “I understand that I made a mistake, but I sincerely hope my mistake doesn’t hurt the chances of the corrected version of the bill,” he wrote. “It is a good bill, and I hope it will get a second chance.”

https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article284338699.html#storylink=cpy

[EYESORE 9001]

1. Must've got lucky

at his last family reunion

[Stargazer99]

2. There is more sexual abuse in families than other social construction

More often than not after family sexual abuse girls end up in prostitution...women's lives just don't matter as much as males, Yes, I know males also suffer from sexual abuse but women are by far the most molested. Says something really ugly about our culture. Why hasn't this been addressed by our culture? Maybe male dominance?

[Jose Garcia]

3. It's legal to marry your 1st cousin in CA, NY, and MA

[Ms. Toad]

6. As it is in 27 other states (without restriction in 24, with some restrictions in 6).

Recent research makes it clear there is no biological/genetic basis for prohibiting it.

This tempest is silly - people piling on wiht knee jerk reactions because it is Kentucky and Republicans.

[Retrograde]

4. If it was good enough for Queen Victoria and Charles Darwin

They each married their first cousins (not each other, although that would have been interesting). It was acceptable in the 19th century and earlier. The problem with such closely related marriages is that it increases the odds of passing on undesirable traits - as well as desirable ones: the genes don't care. That's how the Hapsburgs ended up with descendants who couldn't fully close their mouths.

[Butterflylady]

5. There's a disease called CMT.

It is part of the Muscular Dystrophy family. I know because my late hubby had it.
Scientists have traced it back to families that have married within the family. It is found a lot in Amish families where they intermarry
This disease is inherited, especially for men.

[Ms. Toad]

7. Aside from isolated cases like this with a known hereditary disease, where genetic counseling is appropriate,

Or situations in which the entire gene pool is very, very limited (not just the couple, but an isolated community with lots of intermarrying), the most recent research indicates that there is very little difference in genetic health between marriage of unrelated individuals and between first cousins.

The most recent studies suggest that random couples have a 2-4% chance of an inherited disease, whereas first cousins have a 3.7-6.8% chance. NYTimes

There are diseases where there is a lot of risk, far more than that which comes from a marriage among cousins, and there is no prohibition on (for example) people with Tay Sachs, Huntington's Disease, Marfan syndrome, Achondroplasia marrying. Two African American individuals have a higher risk of sickle cell anemia than average, and there isn't a suggestion they should be prohibited from marrying.

Not to mention that not every marriage results in children.

[Silent3]

9. "Not to mention that not every marriage results in children"

Although I'm sure it would cause much consternation and fuss, it seems to me that the laws regarding incest shouldn't be about who you can marry, but who you can attempt to have children with.

[Ms. Toad]

10. That would open up a whole bunch of cans of worms . . .

I don't really think progressives should be supporting eugenics.

Incest laws should be limited to protecting children from adult predators who happen to be relatives.

[Silent3]

14. I see what you mean about "eugenics", but "eugenics" bad name came from racist assumptions...

...and other nastiest about who was "superior" and "inferior", not from common-sense genetics about the very well-known hazards of close inbreeding.

Either way, don't worry, I'm not recommending the Democratic party or anyone else come anywhere near such a radioactive issue.

[Ms. Toad]

18. It's not just racism.

It also presumes that people with Down's syndrome, or who are little people, or who have autism, or any number of other things which are genetic or genetically linked are superior to those without.

And assumptions about inbreeding are greatly exaggerated, unless you are talking about a very small genetically isolated population. Recent studies have established that there isn't a significantly increased risk for cousins as opposed to strangers.

[SYFROYH]

8. First cousins are not a problem.

[brooklynite]

11. Are you aware the First Cousin marriage is legal in.....

California
Colorado[
Connecticut
District of Columbia
Hawaii
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Jersey[
New Mexico
New York
Rhode Island
Vermont
Virginia

[catsudon]

17. I'M SUPRISED THE USUAL SUSPECT

you know those
sweet home Alabama, or west virginia mounting momma are not on the list.

looks like it's on most progressive states. i'm okay with that, love is love between consenting adults.

[brooklynite]

19. No, they're on the list too

I pulled out the Blue States for comparison to “those whacky Red State southerners”

[PufPuf23]

12. Cornelius Vanderbilt married his first cousin, Sophia Johnson, and they bore 13 children together.

On December 19, 1813, at age 19 Vanderbilt married his first cousin, Sophia Johnson. They moved into a boarding house on Broad Street in Manhattan.[citation needed]

They had 13 children together: Phebe in 1814, Ethelinda in 1817, Eliza in 1819, William in 1821, Emily in 1823, Sophia in 1825, Maria in 1827, Frances in 1828, Cornelius Jeremiah in 1830, George in 1832 (who died in 1836), Mary in 1834, Catherine in 1836, and another son named George in 1839.[13][14]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelius_Vanderbilt

The only reason I know this (aside from wiki where it comes and goes) is that my great great grandfather's mother was Eleanor Johnson, Sophia Johnson's sister. The Van Pelts came to Northern California as part of the enterprise that put steamships on San Franscisco Bay and as far up the Sacramento River as Marysville.

>>Brayton Douglass Van Pelt,

son of Jacob Van Pelt

and Eleanor Johnson, nephew of

Sophia Johnson that m. Cornelius Vanderbilt.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/147900773/brayton-douglass-van_pelt

[Emile]

13. I remember back years ago when I was a young

boy around 12. The boy down the street (who was my age) told me his cousin in Kentucky taught him how to french kiss.

[Elessar Zappa]

15. First cousin marriage is legal in a lot of states.

There’s really no biological or genetic reason to ban first cousin marriages, it’s more of an ick factor more than anything.

[TexasBushwhacker]

16. Yup. Oddly enough, not Kentucky n/t