# blood test / marriage

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-test-marriage/498540>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [June 3, 2009, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-test-marriage/498540 "2009-06-03T03:19:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![montims](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@montims](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/montims)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-test-marriage/498540/1 "2009-06-03T03:19:46Z")

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I was reading a much earlier thread on this subject, but it didn’t let me add to the thread, so I hope it’s ok that I started a new one.

You said that in a few states, blood tests are still required for marriage in the US, and said it was originally to check for STDs. My question is: if the result is positive, can they refuse to marry you? And is that legal?

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-test-marriage/498540/2 "2009-06-03T03:28:18Z")

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[Is this the column to which you’re referring](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1144/what-is-the-purpose-of-premarital-blood-testing)?

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-test-marriage/498540/3 "2009-06-03T04:08:17Z")

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If you were trying to post a reply to the column, you can’t do that. It’s just a column.

This thread will probably be moved to the [Comment on Cecil’s Columns](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?f=1) forum.

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-test-marriage/498540/4 "2009-06-03T16:02:07Z")

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Of course they can refuse to marry you in that state. Marriage isn’t a right, it’s a privilege. If you don’t satisfy every last one of the rules laid out by the state the state can deny the marriage. You are free to go elsewhere to a state with different rules, of course.

Every last one of the rules laid out by the state includes the provision in 45 states that the couple be one man and one woman. What do you think all that screaming is about?

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**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-test-marriage/498540/5 "2009-06-03T17:07:46Z")

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Indiana once had Rh testing pre-nup, but they stopped. My brother had a friendly judge waive the test for one of his marriages. By the time I got married, it was no longer required.

Years ago, I hitched a ride with a couple who had swiped his daddy’s car, so they could get married in Kentucky, where she wouldn’t need Papa’s permission to get hitched. There was trouble written all over that, but it wasn’t my trouble. You meet some interesting people, hitchhiking. :rolleyes: