A Conservative former minister in the UK named Richard Holden advocated for the government to outlaw first-cousin marriages due to the higher risk of birth abnormalities for the offspring of such unions.
Holden emphasized that outlawing the practice will safeguard the public’s health when he presented his plans to Parliament on Tuesday.
Current laws forbid marriages to parents, siblings, or children, but not to first cousins.
Holden claimed that although first-cousin marriage was uncommon in Western nations overall, it had “extremely high rates” of 20%–40% among some diaspora groups, like British Pakistanis and Irish tourists.
