Should first cousin marriages be legal in the US?

[Liberal_in_LA]

Md. lawmaker: Ban first-cousin marriages as unsafe
By Associated Press

A Maryland state legislator says it's time to ban marriages between first cousins and stop playing what he calls "genetic roulette" with their offspring.

Comments (1)ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A Maryland state legislator says it's time to ban marriages between first cousins and stop playing what he calls "genetic roulette" with their offspring.

Henry Heller, a Democratic delegate, or state representative, says he wants to bring Maryland "into the enlightened world of other states such as West Virginia and Arkansas" that already prohibit unions of first cousins.

Heller is a retired special education administrator. He says couples who are first cousins are at an increased risk of having a child with birth defects.

The bill would make an exception for people who are over age 65 or infertile. Heller says he has "no problem" with those couples if they want the companionship.

There are 24 states that prohibit marriage between first-cousins.

http://www.kboi2.com/news/offbeat/84712897.html

[MineralMan]

1. It's legal already in half the states. Silly Marylander...

[eShirl]

2. If the social stigma isn't enough to keep a couple apart, no law will.

Also, someone should point out that it is possible to reproduce regardless of marital status.

[Barack_America]

7. Lol. No doubt.

There's something to be said for mandatory sex education.

[MineralMan]

3. I like this:

"Henry Heller, a Democratic delegate, or state representative, says he wants to bring Maryland "into the enlightened world of other states such as West Virginia and Arkansas" that already prohibit unions of first cousins."

West Virginia only banned it to stop the inbreeding jokes. And Arkansas? Enlightened? What? Really?

Yessir, we need to make Maryland a state just like WV and AR. That's the ticket....

[CrownPrinceBandar]

10. "West Virginia only banned it to stop the inbreeding jokes"...........

We did? Do tell.

[MineralMan]

56. Just a bad joke.

Sorry.

[Ozymanithrax]

4. I see nothing wrong with Kissing Cousins...

And as for being infertile?

Invitro fertilization overcomes many obstacles for infertile couples. So would he outlaw married cousins going to see a doctor about IVF?

This guy really needs to get a life and quit worrying about what his cousins are working on their Night Moves in the back seat of their '60 Chevys.

[DesertRat]

12. "Kissing cousins" does not mean marriage

From Webster Dictionary:
"a person and especially a relative whom one knows well enough to kiss more or less formally upon meeting".

[Ozymanithrax]

22. Grew up in Oklahoma. The definition I grew up with limited those relatives that I could

have sex with. If I could Kiss them, I could marry them. My grandfather, my stepfather, and my Cousin the Minister told me that. In Oklahoma at the time, if I was caught in a car with a girl under the age of 18, and she was barefoot and not my sister or other ineligible relative, I was her common law husband.

I made out in cars more than once, and always insisted that the girls leave their shoes on, no matter what else came off.

I will apologize here. I thought the allusion to Bob Seger's "Night Moves" and the general humor in that paragraph was sufficient for people to recognize that I was making light of an idiotic political move.

[Maru Kitteh]

54. I have never heard of the shoe thing before! Grew up in Nebraska.

That's very colorful! Did you ever know anybody who ended up hitched that way, because of the shoes?

[kestrel91316]

5. My maternal grandmother always seemed half-scandalized that her very own

parents were first cousins once removed, lol.

[Liberal_in_LA]

9. "first cousins once removed".... second cousins?

[T Wolf]

13. I think the "remove" thing refers to generations - as in my first cousin's child is my

FC-once removed.

My child and that cousin would be second cousins, I think.

I know the first part is correct because I have one. But I grew up thinking he had been kicked out of the family (once removed) because he was such a rotten kid.

[Liberal_in_LA]

19. Yes, I'd call your example 'second cousins'

[kestrel91316]

23. Correct

[dmr]

70. That's how I understand it n/t

[Shell Beau]

14. I have never gotten the "once removed" stuff.

[Liberal_in_LA]

20. me either

[yellowcanine]

28. You are once removed from your father's or mother's first cousin.

You are second cousins to the children of your father's and mother's cousins.
It is actually quite simple.

[Shell Beau]

32. I thought I was second cousins with my parents' first cousins.

I just never got it. I guess I never tried to. :shrug:

[yellowcanine]

34. No that is the definition of first cousin, once removed. But in some communities, they just say

"cousin" and leave it at that. Many African Americans don't bother with the "once removed" business.

[Pithlet]

73. No, you are correct.

Your parent's cousin is your second cousin. Your cousin's child is your first cousin once removed.

[kestrel91316]

21. Nope. In between first and second cousins. My great-grandfather's mom and

my great-grandmother's grandmother were sisters.

Cousins, but separated by one generation on one side.

So...my g-grandfather's aunt became his grandmother-in-law. I think. His cousin became his mother-in-law. It's even confusing to me unless I am looking at the family tree.

[Bitwit1234]

46. Yes- according to genealogy research

you are always first cousin once removed...is a second cousin
first cousin twice removed.....is a third cousin and so on.

And to set matters straight. If you do background checks you will see that scientist say that there is no genetic cause not to marry a first cousin. That passing a defective gene can be done by two complete strangers marrying as well as if a first cousin married. So what's the difference. Google and check it out.

[csziggy]

37. I've been doing genealogy and am surprised at the number of cousins that married

Most not in my direct ancestors, but in some families it was pretty common. Aside from that, there were many cases of married second cousins whose grandparents were siblings. This was in the days when two or three families would homestead new areas together so the children and children's children would be the closest people for socializing.

With some of the couples, there was a high incident of infant death; others had large broods who all survived to an old age. My mother's maternal grandparents were first cousins - the girl's father had died young and her mother took her children home to live with her brother and his family. Her cousin, George, fell in love and they married very young, had thirteen children, all of whom lived to their late 70s and early 80s. The only dominant family characteristic in that crowd, aside from longevity, was a love of reading, which has carried down to my generation. No genetic diseases there!

[hedgehog]

49. I live in a small town where back in the 30's, several families had a passel

of kids who stayed and married into other families. The result is that if you are from here, you have a lot of cousins and people who are your brother-in-law's sister's husband's aunt, etc. . The kids have a joke about it based on the local accent:

"I'm from Ful'on, this is my cousint."

(As you can see, the "T" from Fulton migrates to the end of cousin.)


My children claim that two teens they knew were sleeping together until they started comparing notes and realized that they had some sort of blood relation; then it was ew, ew ,ew! Fact is, as long as there is no emotional incest involved (two people raised in the same family unit regardless of blood ties), there's no reason for cousins not to marry.

All you have to do is visit any part of Europe and see how the local people in any place tend to resemble each other and you'll know cousins use to marry each other!

[Dulcinea]

6. Why not just live together?

Nothing wrong with living with your cousin!

But, reproducing is another matter. First cousins have 1/16 of their genes in common, thus the inbreeding problem.

[hlthe2b]

8. The general risk of birth defects/congenital anomolies doubles

but is still low-- around 3%... Of course if there is a family history of a major genetic condition that doubling of risk would be (for most) unacceptable. Royalty and societies that consistently interbreed within the same family lines (like Saudi Arabia)do see increases of serious problems over time (e.g., heart defects), but the risk appears far less with the occasional mating of first cousins in populations with little interbreeding.


I don't think the issue comes up all that frequently to warrant legal banning, quite frankly.

[Barack_America]

55. So are we talking about legislating marriage or procreation?

And how much do the two have to do with each other anymore anyways?

[hlthe2b]

60. well the reason for bans to begin with was based on procreation

and the only way (at least traditionally) of targeting procreation "policies" has been through marriage legislation. Yes, I would agree that the whole premise is fairly outdated, given the dramatic shifts in attitudes towards reproduction outside of marriage....

[T Wolf]

11. Of course not. Because once you let first cousins marry, then siblings will want that same

"right."

Then parents and children.

Then children and pets.

Where will it all end????????????????

[yellowcanine]

33. People and themselves. It will end there.

[joshcryer]

39. Epic post.

Well done.

[PerfectSage]

63. It'll end with republicans compaining about democrats taking away their freedumbs.

[caitxrawks]

15. meh

You can't help who you love, I guess : /

[TexasObserver]

16. If there's no risk of procreation, no problem with it.

The health issues connected to inbreeding warrant prohibition for heterosexual couples who are fertile, however.

[yurbud]

17. making it legal would lead to A LOT more republican voters

when the offspring are old enough to vote.

[LuvNewcastle]

18. Glad to see someone with his priorities straight.

We're in the middle of the worst recession in decades and this guy's worried about cousins getting married. Way to go, Heller.:sarcasm:

[trackfan]

24. There's a website devoted to this topic:

http://www.cousincouples.com

[OregonBlue]

25. Like we don't have enough pin-head inbreds in this country already.

[noamnety]

65. This comment is bigoted. (nt)

[yellowcanine]

26. Well given that forbidding marriage won't stop them from boinking if that is what they are bent on I

think it is probably a waste of time and public resources. This sounds like a solution in search of a problem.

[Ex Lurker]

27. my first cousin is smokin' hot. just sayin' nt

[yellowcanine]

31. Tough luck. If this law passes you will have to wait until she is 65 to boink her.

By that time she won't be so hot anymore.

[yellowcanine]

29. Being second cousins is grounds for an annulment in the Catholic Church.

I think that is how Rudy Guiliani got one of his marriages dissolved.

[kskiska]

40. Plus some cash changing hands.

Rudy should have noticed that all the wedding guests were seated on the same side of the church.

[LiberalFighter]

30. Legislation like this should require research to support or disprove

before it can be passed.

[Jamastiene]

35. Already is in my state.

:shrug:

[Romulox]

36. "I tell you, I won't live in a town that robs men of the right to marry their cousins! "

[slackmaster]

38. There is no federal law prohibiting them, so your question is moot

It's up to the states to regulate marriage.

[Iggo]

41. If you'da asked me back when I was 12...

..um...er...uh...I mean "Other."

[guitar man]

42. go look at this website

the answer to the question lies there

www.freerepublic.com

:rofl:

[DailyGrind51]

43. What, and give us more teabaggers?

[951-Riverside]

44. I voted NO ...I feel the same about Gay and Interracial Marriages ...its wrong and disgusting

:sarcasm:

...I'm really surprised so many DU'ers voted no. I thought this was a progressive place. It shouldn't be illegal for them to have sex or get married but I do have a problem with them having children because of health issues. OTOH if they want to adopt so be it, let them live and be happy.

[liberal N proud]

45. I thought the were in some parts of the country

(not really)

I always use it to explain the stupid in America.

:rofl:

[Mass]

47. Because you need to be married to have children?\nt

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

48. FDR, Darwin, Einstein, and Jerry Lewis married first cousins.

As did a whole slough of others:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_coupled_cousins

[Morning Dew]

76. psssttt..... Jerry LEE Lewis.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

77. Ooops!

[Skip Intro]

50. Ewwwww n/t

[Xithras]

51. The birth defect rate for married cousins is 3%. For unrelated people it's 2%

Or a little under 2% depending on what years you're looking at and what birth defects you include. From a genetic standpoint, though, there is very little difference between the defect rates for married cousins and the defect rate for other people.

Laws against "cousin marriage" actually have their roots in the early eugenics movement and have largely been abolished worldwide. Only a collection of U.S. states and China have laws against it now. In the U.S., the "social stigma" is mostly an echo of a media campaign run against it in the early 1900's, as part of an effort to breed the "idiots" out of society (their term, not mine). Some pretty horrific things were done in the name of eugenics in the U.S.

No, I'm not married to my cousin, but one of my wifes best friends is married to her first cousin (it's legal in California, and much more common in Costa Rica where they are both originally from). I did the knee jerk "ewww" thing too when I first found out they were related, but it's really not a big deal.

[Lyric]

52. Yes.

The chance of birth defects is barely higher than for a non-related couple, and it's none of our damned business who people marry so long as they're consenting adults who aren't immediately related. Sure, it's icky to me, but my ick-factor issues shouldn't control other peoples' lives.

[stray cat]

53. Of course - why not?

the reason against it is screwing up the gene pool - forbidding marriage doesn't stop that

[CBR]

57. One of my best friends in college had parents that were first cousins...

I really do not care who someone wants to marry.

[tomm2thumbs]

58. they are attacking marriage!! where is James Dobson, Pat Robertson & their ilk?!!

oh, that's right - in the basement swapping tongues

[Motown_Johnny]

59. established law IMO...

why pick this fight?

[Name removed]

61. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Kurska]

62. As sick as it sounds brother/sister marriage should be legal, it isn't my damn business

To tell two consenting adults if they can get married or not, it just isn't my place.

[LWolf]

64. Other:

Separate marriage from breeding.

[rucky]

66. Only if he's your uncle, too. n/t

[Name removed]

67. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[noamnety]

68. IVF has a higher rate of birth defects than cousin marriages.

Allowing older women to breed results in a higher rate of birth defects than cousin marriages.

Most of the marriage throughout history (something like 80% if I remember right) have been between cousins. In most of the world - including the western developed world - it's legal. The US is behind the times on this. That's no surprise. When it comes to marriage laws and human rights, the US tends to lag behind, and it is almost always based on bigotry rather than science.

[mrs_p]

69. here's a link to some recent research

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/theres-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html

i find it icky, but that's just because my dad remarried his first cousin (my second cousin). their baby died not because of genetics, but because of her drinking and drugging.

[MicaelS]

71. Of course, why not?

I'm shocked at the number of NO voters here. Isn't this place supposed to be Progressive?

[old mark]

72. Should be legal. There really is no problem with it - it was a myth.

There is no genetic penalty for cousin marriages.

My problem is that my cousins are republicans.


mark

[JCMach1]

74. Come let me introduce to you the genetic problems this has produced in the Arab population of

the Gulf region...

The blood diseases are horrific.

It should be illegal for health reasons.

[Luminous Animal]

75. Hide thread.