Spousal Rape is OK?

In 1980, only three states had outlawed spousal rape. In between 1970 and 1993 all fifty states outlawed spousal rape. Surely one less thing for God to judge our nation.

But the husband cannot be guilty of a rape committed by himself upon his lawful wife, for by their mutual matrimonial consent and contract the wife hath given up herself in this kind unto the husband which she cannot retract. ~ Chief Justice of England Matthew Hale - History of the Pleas of the Crown - 1736[1]

In fairness, he is not saying that rape of a spouse is OK, but that it is impossible.  This was known as the marital exemption.  Further:

However, although marital rape is now recognized, most states do not give wives the same legal protection as they would nonmarried couples, and when courts do recognize marital rape, the perpetrators are sanctioned less harshly than are those accused of nonmarital sexual assaults. For example, in 30 states, a husband is exempt from charges of rape when he does not have to use force: because of the marital contract, a wife’s consent is assumed unless she overtly refuses her husband’s advances. The existence of some spousal exemptions in the majority of states indicates that rape in marriage is still treated as a lesser crime than other forms of rape.[1]