The New Hampshire GOP lawmaker also said that he would not "apologize to the haters" for describing 16-year-old girls as "ripe."

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15199291

Republican defends child marriage: I’m “pro-choice”

A New Hampshire Republican lawmaker who has been under fire for defending child marriage has lashed out at his “haters” while insisting that his stance is “pro-choice.”

State Representative Jess Edwards inspired outrage last week after describing underage teenage girls as “ripe” and “fertile” while arguing against a bill to raise the age of marriage in the Granite State from 16 to 18. The bill passed by a vote of 192-174 despite objections from Edwards and others.

…

Edwards described critics of his underage marriage stance as “an army of control freaks that want to entice a pregnant woman into an abortion rather than allow a marriage” in a Facebook post on Monday.

    • ripcord@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      6 months ago

      The person he replied to is Australian, though, so I don’t get the downvotes. Seems like a pretty appropriate reply to me.

                • Madison420@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  02·
                  6 months ago

                  “Reason x as to why y” is the same amount of whataboutism as the comment you replied to. Ie. You’re being obtuse and using whataboutism to deflect legitimate criticism.

                  • dalekcaan@lemm.eeEnglish
                    0·
                    6 months ago

                    Okay, you’re coming in a little hot there. I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m not deflecting anything. I’m saying that pointing out that there are issues in Australia does not absolve the fact that there are issues in the US. I’m literally only pointing out that it is, in fact, whataboutism. That’s it. I haven’t even touched on the issues themselves, so whatever persona you’ve painted on me and are clearly so passionate about is in your head only.