Utah legislature passes bill that will make sex outside of marriage legal

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (FOX 10) -- A bill that will decriminalize sex before marriage in Utah has been passed by the state's legislature.

According to the state legislature's website, Senate Bill 43, if signed by the state's governor, will make amendments to a number of laws currently in the books, and will also repeal a law that bans "fornication", which is defined in the state's laws as a misdemeanor that involves any unmarried person who voluntarily has sex with another person. SB43 was passed by Utah's state house late Wednesday morning.

This ban on sex outside of marriage, according to Utah State Legislature's website, is included in a section of Utah's legal code that also makes adultery a misdemeanor. A proposal to repeal the adultery ban has also been passed by the state's legislature, as of late February.

FOX 10 reported on this story from Phoenix.