Oklahoma Senator Proposes Bill to Keep Marriage STD-Free

A bill proposed by Oklahoma state Sen. Anthony Sykes (R) would mandate that all couples seeking a marriage license undergo a blood test “for the discovery of syphilis and other communicable or infectious diseases.”

If a STD is discovered, a marriage license can only be obtained if a state-licensed physician can state that the disease is “not in a stage which may be communicable to the marriage partner.” Vocativ points out that the bill is especially strange considering Oklahoma has “one of the lowest rates of Syphilis infection in the country.”

Additionally, Attorney David Slane notes over at News 9: “This new law would require you to file with the court clerk the results of this test which the whole world could see. It seems to me that would violate people’s real privacy rights.”

Those Republicans sure do hate it when the government pokes into our private business, huh?