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Topics: Florida
William Morgan
Florida has failed to pass a ban on marriage between first cousins after a bill on the issue failed to make it through the state Senate. But surprisingly, this form of incest remains legal for around one in three Americans.
While this failure may be welcomed by Floridians who call their mother-in-law auntie, a lawmaker has expressed frustration at their inability to finally get a ban on first-cousin marriage on the books in the Sunshine State.
The bill's sponsor, Republican state Rep. Dean Black, shared his frustration with Action News Jax, saying: “There are plenty of people here, and there are plenty of people you can find to be your lifelong partner without looking to your first cousin.”
Across the US, it is estimated that just 0.2 percent of marriages are between first cousins, however, a number of studies suggest these unions are responsible for a disproportionate amount of infant mortality and congenital disabilities.
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One recent study in Bradford, England, where 60 percent of marriages in the town's Pakistani community are 'consanguineous', or between first cousins, found that these couples experienced twice as many birth defects and child deaths as non-related couples.
The practice of marrying your cousin is widespread across communities in the Middle East for much the same reason it was in the Western world, as recently as the middle of the 19th century - when many US states started to ban it.
While this might sometimes be for love, interfamilial unions are mostly about property and inheritance rights, with these marriages keeping wealth within the family, as well as a few too many other things.
But despite this long-established issue with incestuous relationships, it is still legal in many American states to marry your first cousin. While others enforce a total ban on all forms of incestuous relations, including marriage.
Some of the most populous states in the country have not outlawed this practice, with the 11 percent of the country's population who live in California enjoying the right to cohabit and reproduce with their cousins to their heart's intent.
There are 16 states where marriage between first cousins remains legal in the US, though not all other states recognize these unions and outlaw the practice entirely.
Legislation banning the practice is fairly scattershot; even in states where it is banned, some still allow 'cohabitation', or only ban it for people of a reproductive age.
States where it is fully legal to marry your cousin:
States where you can marry your cousin under certain conditions:
In some states there are no exceptions to the consanguinity rule, you just cannot marry your cousin. Most of these states will also not recognize cousin marriages from out of state.