The Telegraph reported that the state of New Hampshire is now allowing adultery legally. Legislators at the state has secured bipartisan support to remove the ban, which has been in place for the last 223 years.
One of them, Democrat member Tim O'Flaherty of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, told the UK newspaper that the reform was long overdue. He said, "The idea that it would stop an affair is delusional. It also treats women as if they were the property of men. It is at least 10 years since it was enforced."
The proponents of the lifting of the adultery ban reasoned that the laws were passed at the time that heterosexuals were unheard of. Moreover, O'Flaherty also said that the need to lift the ban was necessary to address concerns of discrimination and smooth out its inconsistency with other laws, like the legalization of same-sex marriages. Same-sex marriage in New Hampshire was legalized in January 2010, The Telegraph noted.
The reform, which has already gotten clearance from the state's lower house. New Hampshire governor Maggie Hassan said she will be ratifying the change once it will be passed by the state senate.
On the other hand, opponents of the law said that the lifting of the adultery ban was an indication of moral decay not only in New Hampshire, but in the US.
In 1791, the punishment for individuals who were found guilty violating the adultery ban is public humiliation and torture. Convicts were then whipped and paraded in front of the public and of the gallows. In 1983, Massachusetts police have caught a couple having sex in a van. The woman, who was not married to the man, disputed the $50 imposed fine. If the said woman was given a harsh sentence, she could have faced jail time of up to three years.
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