A Republican lawmaker in New Hampshire opposed banning child marriages in the state because teens are of “ripe and fertile” age.
State Rep. Jess Edwards (R) made the comment during a debate on a bill that would set the state’s minimum age of marriage at 18, up from the current age of 16, with no exceptions, according to the New Hampshire Bulletin.
Edwards expressed concern that by raising the age to marry it increases the likelihood of minors getting an abortion.
“If we continually restrict the freedom of marriage as a legitimate social option, when we do this to people who are of a ripe, fertile age and may have a pregnancy and a baby involved, are we not in fact making abortion a much more desirable alternative, when marriage might be the right solution for some freedom-loving couples?” he said.
The bill passed the statehouse and is headed to Gov. Chris Sununu (R) desk. New Hampshire is the latest state to take steps towards banning child marriage. Last month, Virginia became the 12th state to ban it with no exceptions.
Edwards defended his word choice on Sunday, telling MassLive that no one should be upset about it.
“I don’t think anyone should be upset about the use of the word ‘fertile’ because that’s the foundation of pregnancy and that’s the trigger for abortion,” Edwards said. “So for people to react to the word fertile, I just think it’s ridiculous. It’s an emotionally-laden driven issue.”
As for ‘ripe,’ Edwards said, “you got to keep in mind that I was looking at 375 people over the age of 65. And the word was intended to grab a bunch of old people’s attention to remind them of what it was like to be a teenager.”
Edwards argued that the fundamental issue is not his word choice, but the government restricting the freedoms of minors.
“If somebody’s old enough to engage in sex, they’re old enough to deal with the consequences of pregnancy,” Edwards said. “So I believe in having people be responsible and having the freedom of choice to meet their responsibilities the best way they can.”
