Agamemnon got it right...the religious dogma these codes are set by were created a few 1000 years ago, and were based on the fact that girls were married off as young as 12 years old...sometimes younger. The fact that the any religion still practises the banning of the use of contraceptives not only is a few hundred years behind the times, its also a recipe for disaster in places like Africa...see Aids running rampant.