The CS Monitor has an article today talking about the state of "second wives" in France.1 Apparently France only very recently outlawed polygamy, and a number of African men have come to France bringing multiple "wives" and the children of both "wives." The article highlights the problems that come from lack of enforcement since the 1993 outlawing, and the unwillingness of the government to deal with those polygamous families it allowed in before outlawing polygamy. While the outlawing of polygamy is both rational and moral, it is immoral to treat these women as somehow neither married nor single and thus allow them to fall through the cracks. Naturally, they cannot be married as a marriage is between one man and one woman, so they must be single with children, and should be legally so treated. Worse, I am sure this sort of thing will be used by liberals world-wide to try to pressure France to repeal the law. This would be an unmitigated disaster, with the marriage under attack from so many other angles as well.
