[ansel12]

Thanks tje. Licensing marriage was begun to combat the spread of VD (as STIs used to be called, back before they were called STDs) and incest;

Huh? That is total nonsense, and why do you not let people know which post you are responding to?

[djf]

You are quite correct, licensing has zero to do with STD’s.

Here is a definition:

License: permission from the government or other powers to do THAT WHICH WOULD BE ILLEGAL if done without it.

So by the unfettered act of getting a license, you are actually saying what you are doing is illegal.

This is not some “patriot myth”.

It is Black’s Law, 6th edition.

[SunkenCiv]

No, it’s factual, but it’s fallen out of practice in a lot of places. Oh, and in case you missed it, you don’t set the rules of how I post.

http://usmarriagelaws.com/search/united_states/blood_test_requirements/

> Only a few states require a blood test or a blood test and physical examination before marriage to show whether one party is infected with a venereal disease. In some statutes, for example, the clerk is forbidden to issue a marriage license until the parties present the results of the blood test.