One consent age not way to go

The legalisation of one specific age of consent to marry automatically leads to the age of consent to access sexual and reproductive health and literature (access to contraception, abortion, contraceptive literature/ pornography etc) without parental consent.

The success of this mandate and the potential for disharmony among our religious bodies, as a result, can become a precedent for the rule of law superseding religious freedom.

The defining truths of pro-life, pro-marriage and pro-family based on religious freedom may then be challenged in a court of law.

Therefore the leaders of this wonderful multireligious, multicultural country where every creed and race find an equal place need to think long and hard about the long-term consequences, and not only the immediate, of major decisions of this nature.

Provisions should be made for different ages, while also considering the dignity and respect of women. We must allow for freedom of choice.

It may also be food for thought that in many decades gone by, (before tertiary level education) many young men and women were married before the age of 18 by choice, as they were considered mature enough to raise a family.

Do they no longer exist, or is there some other agenda at work here?

TONIA LEACOCK via email