A law banning underage marriage in West Virginia was revived in the Senate Thursday, a day after its defeat in a committee.
The turnaround didn’t necessarily give the bill a clear path to passage. Several senators gave impassioned speeches after the bill was introduced, some of whom defended the right of teens in love to marry.
The House of Representatives approved the bill last week. The Senate Judiciary Committee narrowly rejected it without debate Wednesday night. Morgan County Republican Senator Charles Trump, a committee member, introduced a motion that passed the full Senate on Thursday to remove the bill from committee and give it a second reading. It’s Friday for a final reading and the Senate has the right to amend the bill.
Currently, children in West Virginia can marry as young as 16 with parental consent. Anyone younger than that should also be given a waiver of the right.
The bill’s lead sponsor, Democratic Del. Kayla Young of Kanawha County, said that since 2000, there have been more than 3,600 marriages involving one or more children in the state.
BILL BAN CHILD MARRIAGES IN WEST VIRGINIA REPORTED BY SENATE COMMITTEE
Cabell County Democratic Sen. Mike Woelfel, an attorney, said he was representing a girl who was both married and divorced when she was in eighth grade. Woelfel said he was concerned about older men courting young girls “and before you know it, a young girl has convinced her parents to let her get married.”
“What we have here is a good bill because it recognizes that we are not in the 1950s or 1960s,” Woelfel said. “I think we’re entering the modern era with this.”
State Senator Charles Trump listens during a session of the Senate on March 9, 2023 in Charleston, West Virginia. The Senate revived the bill to ban minors from marrying a day after it was rejected. (Will Price/West Virginia Legislative Services via AP)
Both Republican Senator Mike Stuart, a former federal prosecutor, said he supports the age of 16 for marriage. Stuart said that 50 years later, his parents are “still giddy teenagers” who got married at 16.
Putnam County Republican Senator Eric Tarr said he got married in high school but understands that issues in the bill need to be addressed.
WEST VIRGINIA HOUSE PROVIDES BILL TO BAN CHILD MARRIAGE
“Knowing what it means to be two grown high school students in love and getting married and building a life together, that’s a family born and a family that stays together,” said Tarr. “I think all of us in this room appreciate and understand that.”
The bill establishes 18 as the age of majority and removes a minor’s ability to obtain consent through their parents, legal guardians or by a court petition. Existing legal marriages, including those in other states, remain unaffected.
According to the nonprofit Unchained At Last, which aims to end forced and child marriage, seven states have set the minimum age for marriage at 18 since 2018. Proponents of such legislation say it would reduce domestic violence and unwanted pregnancies and improve lives. of teenagers.
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Although recent numbers are not available, West Virginia had the highest child marriage rate of the states in 2014, according to the Pew Research Center, when the state’s five-year average was 7.1 marriages for every 1,000 children ages 15 to 17.