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

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.

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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.

    • Funderpants
      12·
      6 months ago

      I first wrote that story out 10 or more years ago, so it feels like a product of my youth, a cartoonish caricature that’s so on the nose I should be a little embarrassed I couldn’t come up with something more subtle. I’m my own worst critic though.