Boston health center provides screenings in advance of May 17

The Fenway Community Health Center in Boston has been saturated with requests for premarital health screenings from same-sex couples eager to obtain marriage licenses beginning May 17, reports The Boston Globe. Massachusetts law requires that blood tests for syphilis as well as HIV counseling be completed no more than 30 days before the marriage license application. Wednesday was the first day clinics could provide screenings for same-sex couples. The clinic's executive director, Stephen L. Boswell, told the Globe that since the state supreme judicial court's ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, the health center has seen its requests for premarital screenings increase exponentially. "The demand for this service is really astounding," he said. "We've had various people asking to have this service provided." More than 150 people have already signed up for Fenway's Premarital Clinic Program, Boswell said, so the health center has expanded its schedule to include evening clinics to expedite the process. "It was made possible to meet their demand," he said. "We don't want to have anyone postpone going through the process of getting their marriage license."