when did it become illegal to marry first cousins
Cousin marriage
These developments led to 13 states and territories passing cousin marriage prohibitions by the 1880s . Though contemporaneous , the eugenics movement did not play much of a direct role in the bans . George Louis Arner in 1908 considered the ban a clumsy and ineffective method of eugenics , which he thought would eventually be replaced by more refined techniques . By the 1920s , the number of bans had doubled . Since that time , Kentucky ( 1943 ) and Texas have banned first - cousin marriage and since 1985 , Maine has mandated genetic counseling for marrying cousins to minimise risk to any of serious health defect to their children . The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws unanimously recommended in 1970 that all such laws should be repealed , but no state has dropped its prohibition . 
These developments led to 13 states and territories passing cousin marriage prohibitions by the 1880s . Though contemporaneous , the eugenics movement did not play much of a direct role in the bans . George Louis Arner in 1908 considered the ban a clumsy and ineffective method of eugenics , which he thought would eventually be replaced by more refined techniques . By the 1920s , the number of bans had doubled . Since that time , Kentucky ( 1943 ) and Texas have banned first - cousin marriage and since 1985 , Maine has mandated genetic counseling for marrying cousins to minimise risk to any of serious health defect to their children . The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws unanimously recommended in 1970 that all such laws should be repealed , but no state has dropped its prohibition .
These developments led to 13 states and territories passing cousin marriage prohibitions by the 1880s . By the 1920s , the number of bans had doubled .Since that time , Kentucky ( 1943 ) and Texas have banned first - cousin marriage and since 1985.
These developments led to 13 states and territories passing cousin marriage prohibitions by the 1880s . By the 1920s , the number of bans had doubled . Since that time , Kentucky ( 1943 ) and Texas have banned first - cousin marriage and since 1985 , Maine has mandated genetic counseling for marrying cousins to minimise risk to any of serious health defect to their children .
These developments led to 13 states and territories passing cousin marriage prohibitions by the 1880s . By the 1920s , the number of bans had doubled .  Since that time , Kentucky ( 1943 ) and Texas have banned first - cousin marriage.
These developments led to 13 states and territories passing cousin marriage prohibitions by the 1880s . By the 1920s , the number of bans had doubled . Since that time , Kentucky ( 1943 ) and Texas have banned first - cousin marriage and since 1985 , Maine has mandated genetic counseling for marrying cousins to minimise risk to any of serious health defect to their children .