"Temporary Marriages" Would Let Couples Opt Out After 2 Years

Love your sweetheart enough to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, but not sure about that whole "until death do you part" thing? Mexico City lawmakers have your back.

Reuters reports that leftists in the city assembly are pushing a statute that would create temporary marriage licenses for couples who want to get hitched, but not necessarily for as long as both shall live. The length of the contract would be flexible, with a minimum of two years, and could be renewed if all goes well.

From Reuters: "The proposal is, when the two-year period is up, if the relationship is not stable or harmonious, the contract simply ends," said Leonel Luna, the Mexico City assemblyman who co-authored the bill. "You wouldn't have to go through the tortuous process of divorce."

The article notes that about half of marriages in the city end in divorce, many in the first two years. That’s a much higher rate than in the rest of the country, which tends to be more conservative than the capital. In 2009, Mexico City became the first Latin American city to legalize gay marriage.

Some conservative politicians and religious leaders are outraged, according to the CBC: "At first I thought it was a hoax," Consuelo Mendoza, of the national union of parents, said to BBC Mundo in Spanish. "These initiatives create a culture of disposability." A spokesman for the Mexican archdiocese added, "This reform is absurd. It contradicts the nature of marriage."

Supporters expect a vote on the proposal by year's end.