New Hampshire lawmaker who opposed a child marriage ban argued that teens are of a "ripe, fertile" age.
Republican state Rep. Jess Edwards said last week that a bill banning marriage for people under 18 would make abortion more appealing for young people.
"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, in a video posted on X.
https://www.newsweek.com/jess-edwards-teen-child-marriage-opposed-republican-ripe-fertile-age-1897512
I thought my friend, from New Hampshire, was making this shit up. Holy crap.