Switzerland might make incest legal.

[Dags90]

To put it another way, if you created a family with perfect genes (no recessive defects), they could mate with each other nonstop without end and never have a defect baby. Not sure this is technically possible though.

Correct, this is how we get "true breeding" lab mice/rat populations. They're essentially clones who get mated with each other, through specific and continual inbreeding. The genetic woes of inbreeding are massively misunderstood and, in most cases, overstated. Especially for sporadic instances of inbreeding.

Inbreeding is only a problem if there's a family history of genetic illness for practical purposes. The risk of having a child with defects increases after each successive generation of incest, but only if that risk was initially present. We don't have laws forcing people with similar "family histories" to get tested, or bar Askenazi's Jews from having children, despite knowing the risk[footnote]Due to the efforts of Askenazi Jews and with the help of genetic counseling, this problem has all but vanished in the U.S. IIRC most cases of Tay Sachs are now born to non-Jews.[/footnote]. Targeting incest specifically is pretty inconsistent and represents codified social bias.

One of my sister's friends married their step siblings who they met as pre-teens, I consider that pretty squicky. I wouldn't make it illegal though.

 

[Latinidiot]

Why was there an actual *law* about this made in the first place?

because it happens (or still does), and because people find (or found) it bad, thus banning it.

I think that a three year sentence on boning someone related to you is ridiculous. Of course, children are still protected, right?

 

[JoJo]

I understand what people are saying about two adults being able to make their own choice, but the idea of a brother and sister just seems... ugh. Also I didn't think there could be anything worse until someone here mentioned parent and offspring, that makes me feel sick just thinking about it. I'm honestly on the fence about this law.

 

[spartan231490]

what damage? are you talking about pedophilia? because they are considering decriminalizing intercourse between two consenting adults who are related, not children. are you talking about actual inbreeding as in reproduction, because that i kinda agree with. something should be done to ensure they don't reproduce, but if they want to have protected sex, i don't see how it's the concern of anyone else.

I was referring more to genetic abnormalities, birth defects etc.

The problem is that you can't order fertile couples not to reproduce, it doesn't work in practice. If they love each other and they want a child they'll do it. Their reasoning will be that it won't happen to them, or that they'd never hurt their child and their instincts will win.

The government can illegalize childbirth if it wants, the chinese government has illegalized the birth of more than 2 children to a family for decades. Having a child is not some genetic imperitive that cannot be overcome, it's a choice. Just like any other choice, you can make one of the decisions illegal, and if the punishment is losing your child into a(not positive on what it's called) anonymous adoption, in addition to fines or even jail time, and the government enforce that law, then it will be followed, at least for the most part.
Bottom line: why does any governemtn have any right to say what two citizens can or cannot do in private.

 

[Danny Ocean]

Thus why I didn't use the word objective again...
-_-

Well now you know which word to use. You can thank me later with cupcakes and blancmange.

Well I already knew, since I amended what I said before you even posted. No cake for you!

Curses! Foiled again!

 

[ShadowsofHope]

What's next... Pets and plants?!

Slippery slope fallacy is slippery. Consensual sex between two human beings is what is being discussed here. Nothing more, nothing less. Pets and plants cannot consent, and are not human beings. They do not even enter the debate, save for people whom think the slippery slope fallacy actually means anything legitimate.

 

[James Joseph Emerald]

3 years in jail just because people think it's icky?

 

[Grey_Focks]

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though I must admit, incest is still pretty disgusting, and if you want to diddle someone you grew up with, their is something wrong with you. Cousins less so, but siblings and parents Ewwww...

 

[ramboondiea]

this is so wrong, the chances of any child being born with no problems is minute. and legalising it is paramount to encouraging it.
come on Switzerland, get your crap together

No, social pressure prevents it from happening in virtually all cases. Still, if two adults want to have sex, who am I to tell them they can't?
It's just strange that Switzerland would do that, considering their track record as far as social progressiveness goes. Women couldn't vote until the early 1970s...

if they want to have sex they can, i literally dont care, but this is encouraging the act which could lead to children, and yeah you;ll read a million times on here about how it wont effect the child but it does, the lickelyhood of a child from same family parents is about 3 times that of different family parents.

also the social stigma attached with it, what child should be put throu that?

 

[Wicky_42]

The most important aspect of illegalising incest imo is protecting vulnerable children from fucked up fathers. For that and no other reason I would oppose Switzerland here, even though I find the idea morally reprehensible in the first place.

That is a strawman case. Incest between two consenting siblings is not akin to a father (or mother) taking advantage of his/her children. You are mixing up pedophilia with incest, which is a dishonest tactic at best.

I'm not particularly fond of incest myself (I will never engage in incest, without a doubt), yet I do not deny the choice to those whom might think otherwise. Finding it morally reprehensible is fine, but your opinion does not dictate the lives of others in their privacy, either.

yeah, I made a boo-boo. My bad - forgot about all those other laws (lol)

 

[mattttherman3]

Not gonna lie, don't care, I personally wouldn't do it but to each his or her own, just don't have kids. I'm also not surprised switzerland is doing this.

 

[ramboondiea]

this is so wrong, the chances of any child being born with no problems is minute. and legalising it is paramount to encouraging it.
come on Switzerland, get your crap together

Actually I believe the chance of defects only goes up a tiny amount. Google the statistics if you don't believe me.

i do believe you, its about 3 times that of a normal birth, but theirs also a higher chance of incident during birth. also i ment to include social problems but il admit that does come through very well

 

[zelda2fanboy]

In related news, Switzerland now has the creepiest porn on the internet. Or should I say the best porn?

 

[spartan231490]

The government can illegalize childbirth if it wants, the chinese government has illegalized the birth of more than 2 children to a family for decades. Having a child is not some genetic imperitive that cannot be overcome, it's a choice. Just like any other choice, you can make one of the decisions illegal, and if the punishment is losing your child into a(not positive on what it's called) anonymous adoption, in addition to fines or even jail time, and the government enforce that law, then it will be followed, at least for the most part.
Bottom line: why does any governemtn have any right to say what two citizens can or cannot do in private.

I'm having some trouble understanding. You're against governments telling people what to do but you're for them banning childbirth by incestuous couples? Aren't those basically the same thing?

To be honest this seems like a no brainer to me, some things done in private are illegal for a good reason and this is one of them.

EDIT: Also make no mistake about how China enforces that ban. There are widespread stories of forced sterilisation.

Having sex affects no one except the couples involved, until they have children. I am against the government telling people what to do without good reason, and sinse sex only affects the parties involved, than they have no good reason. They could justify controlling reproduction in this case because of the likely impact to the child of being inbred. see the difference?
I don't care how china enforces thier ban, the fact remains that they prove that you can enforce such a ban, meaning that you cannot simply ban the sex because you can't stop the reproduction any other way. Also, banning sex is even harder than banning reproduction, because unless one of the partners decides to turn in the other(and themselves) there is no evidence.

 

[Geekosaurus]

I don't live in Switzerland and I have no desire to perform coitus with any member of my family. It's safe to say that this law wont affect me much.

 

[thethingthatlurks]

this is so wrong, the chances of any child being born with no problems is minute. and legalising it is paramount to encouraging it.
come on Switzerland, get your crap together

No, social pressure prevents it from happening in virtually all cases. Still, if two adults want to have sex, who am I to tell them they can't?
It's just strange that Switzerland would do that, considering their track record as far as social progressiveness goes. Women couldn't vote until the early 1970s...

if they want to have sex they can, i literally dont care, but this is encouraging the act which could lead to children, and yeah you;ll read a million times on here about how it wont effect the child but it does, the lickelyhood of a child from same family parents is about 3 times that of different family parents.

also the social stigma attached with it, what child should be put throu that?

Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear: yes, the risk of genetic damage is rather high in cases of incest, which is why I would strongly discourage family members from procreating, and would also like to encourage the entire south of the US to stop doing so.
Anyway, the stigma associated with incest usually prevents children being born in cases of consensual sex, which is what I meant. The legalization hardly encourages the act, but it removes legal penalties for people being idiots.

 

[ComicsAreWeird]

I think incest is repulsive. But if two consenting adults choose that path,i guess it´s none of my business.

 

[LightspeedJack]

The population of West Virginia perk up their ears.