Love and .... First Cousin Marriage? | In Session | Blogs (www.HometownAnnapolis.com

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Love and .... First Cousin Marriage?

Posted: February 16, 11:28 am | (permalink) | (2 comments)

So, the contest for most bizarre bill of the session may be over.

Democratic Dels. Henry Heller of Montgomery County and Joseph Vallario of Prince George’s County have introduced a bill that would both prohibit marriages between first cousins and allow them under specific circumstances. In the short synopsis released so far, those circumstances would be if both people are over the age of 65 or if one individual can show proof he or she is infertile.

At the beginning of the session I would not have anticipated a bill related to consanguinity, but the General Assembly remains – as always – an unpredictable place.

-Liam Farrell

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First cousin Marriage & Vallario - 2010-02-17

This is rather unsettling --and to think that Vallario heads the Judiciary Committee and is the "decider" as to which bills go to committee for vote - or not. Also disconcerting to think that Speaker Busch appointed Delegate Vallario to a very important position.

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Adiva Sotzsky - Karma: Neutral

First Cousin Marriage - 2010-02-16

Women over the age of 40 have roughly the same increased risk for having a baby with a birth defect as first cousins. This bill was introduced in 2000 and died in the family law committee. It should meet the same fate as before because current genetic knowledge does not support the notion that first cousins should be singled out. No other Western country prohibits cousin marriages. Nearly all of the laws in the USA that ban cousin marriage were enacted long before modern genetics were discovered.

The impetus of this bill is simply personal bigotry of the bill's authors. It's hard to believe that we are still having this debate!

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KC Mann - Karma: Neutral