Wedding Rites in Illinois Dip; Study Cites Required AIDS Test
An analysis of marriage licenses found that the number of marriages performed in Illinois dropped by about 14% during a 20-month period when the state required couples seeking licenses to undergo AIDS testing.
From Jan. 1, 1988, through Sept. 10, 1989, Illinois marriage law required people who wanted to get married to provide a doctor’s statement saying they had been tested for the AIDS-causing human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV.
The study released Friday indicates that during this period there was a marked increase in marriages performed in neighboring states--Wisconsin, Indiana and Missouri.
“Rather than take the HIV blood test and get married in Illinois, or not get married at all, couples crossed the state line and were married in states bordering Illinois,” Jack McKillip of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill., wrote in a study published in the May issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
Some officials have speculated that the cost of HIV testing may have been a factor spurring the exodus of would-be newlyweds from Illinois. HIV testing costs between $20 and $60 per couple, and the cost of an Illinois marriage license was $15, McKillip said.
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