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Thursday, September 20, 2012

Marital Blood Tests...




Signs like these used to be common.  I'm from Miami, OK originally & they used to call  my hometown "Little Reno".  The county courthouse sat in a square in Miami.  You'd start on one side to get your blood tests.  Then you'd wait for the results at the cafe.  Then off to the courthouse for the license.   You had to make a decision then whether to stop for flowers & such or go straight to the chapel.  In a matter of hours you could be married.  Nowadays they don't have the test & takes about an hour.

There were lots of rumors about what they were looking for in these tests.  Some say they were looking for blood capatibility for pregnancy & others claimed they were trying to see if the bride & groom might actually be related.   To the best of my knowledge, they didn't have the ability to look for either of those things back then with a simple blood test.  What they were most often looking for was the presence of syphilis & rubella.

Most states no longer require marital blood tests, but a push for their return is gaining ground.   The argument for mandatory HIV testing prior to marriage has been buzzing around for years, here & abroad.  Opponents say that this would be an invasion of privacy.  Hah.  If you're marrying this person, anything that could affect their lives is now their business as well.  Your future spouse has the right to know about any potentially transmittable illnesses you may have.  A person's right to privacy does not trump another's right to safety.

I personally support the idea of testing before marriage.  If you can't do that much for your spouse-to-be, then you probably shouldn't be getting married.

Cya...

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