Politics US: Child marriage ban bill defeated in West Virginia House

[tom_mai78101]

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A bill that would have prohibited minors from getting married in West Virginia was defeated Wednesday night in a legislative committee.

The Republican-dominated Senate Judiciary Committee rejected the bill on a 9-8 vote, a week after it passed the House of Delegates.

The vote came shortly after the bill’s main sponsor, Democratic Del. Kayla Young of Kanawha County, testified briefly before the committee. She said that since 2000 there have been more than 3,600 marriages in the state involving one or more children.

Currently, children can marry as young as 16 in West Virginia with parental consent. Anyone younger than that also must get a judge’s waiver.

“For now, there will be no floor for the age of marriage in WV, endangering our kids,” Young wrote on Twitter after the vote.

In a rebuke, Cabell County Democratic Sen. Mike Woelfel reminded the committee after the vote that Wednesday was International Women’s Day.

Child marriage ban bill defeated in West Virginia House

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A bill that would have prohibited minors from getting married in West Virginia was defeated Wednesday night in a legislative committee.

apnews.com

I didn't know there is no minimum age requirements for a child to marry off with parental consent in West Virginia.

 

[jonas]

There are a actually few Republican-run communities that are still defending laws that allow men to marry little girls. Some of them do have minimum age requirements but the limits are suprisingly low.

 

[The Helper]

That area of the US if famous for young marriages. It has been that way for centuries. There are mountain people in Virginia that live totally different lives than probably anyone here even knows unless you are from that area.

 

[tom_mai78101]

That's an interesting tidbit you have there.