In 2008 CBC had an article about cousin marriage bans:
Cousin marriage — and marriage between a niece or nephew and their uncle or aunt — is legal in Canada, according to the federal Marriage (Prohibited Degrees) Act of 1990.
On the other hand, in the United States, 31 state laws either bar the practice or allow it only when the couple has genetic counselling, is beyond reproductive age or if a partner is sterile. The authors of the paper ask whether the laws are grounded in scientific fact, such as the commonly cited three per cent additional risk of birth defects in those born to cousins.
"These laws reflect once-prevailing prejudices about immigrants and the rural poor and oversimplified views of heredity, and they are inconsistent with our acceptance of reproductive behaviors that are much riskier to offspring," the pair conclude in a journal forum where historians and philosophers reflect on topical issues in biology.
"They should be repealed, not because their intent was eugenic, but because neither the scientific nor social assumptions that informed them are any longer defensible."
The researchers give the example of a 2002 expert review on birth defects. The panel concluded the risk to those born to cousins is smaller than generally assumed at 1.7 to two per cent higher than the population-wide risk of birth defects, which is between two and three per cent. The review panel thought such a rate did not warrant any special testing before conception.
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