CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – A bill that would have banned minors from marrying in West Virginia was defeated Friday night in a legislative committee.
The Republican-dominated Senate Judiciary Committee rejected the bill by a 9-8 vote, a week after it passed the House of Delegates.
The vote came shortly after the bill’s lead sponsor, Democrat Del. Kayla Young of Kanawha County, testified briefly before the committee. He said that since 2000 there have been more than 3,600 marriages in the country with one or more children.
Currently, children can marry at age 16 in West Virginia with parental consent. Anyone younger than that must also request a judge’s waiver.
“Now, there will be no floor on the age of marriage in WV, putting children at risk,” Young wrote on Twitter after the vote.
In a rebuke, Cabell County Democratic Senator Mike Woelfel reminded the committee after the vote that Wednesday was International Women’s Day.
Some opponents of the bill say teen marriage is part of life in West Virginia.
Kanawha County Republican Sen. Mike Stuart, a former federal prosecutor who sides with the majority, said the vote “is not a vote against women.” He said his mother got married when he was 16, and “six months later, I came. I’m the luckiest man in the world.”
The bill would define 18 as the age of consent and eliminate the ability of minors to obtain consent through a parent, legal guardian, or by court petition. Existing legal marriages, including those performed in other countries, will not be affected.
According to the non-profit group Unchained At Last, which seeks to end forced and child marriage, seven states have set the minimum age for marriage at 18, all since 2018. Supporters of the law say it reduces domestic violence, unwanted pregnancies and improve life. from the youth.
Although new numbers are not available, according to the Pew Research Center, West Virginia had the highest rate of child marriage among states in 2014, while the state’s five-year average was 7.1 marriages for every 1,000 children ages 15 to 17.