Bill to raise legal marriage age to 18 sparks fiery debate in Missouri House
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Child marriage is still legal in 37 states, according to Girls Not Brides. That’s when one or both people in the marriage is under 18. Thursday, Missouri got one step closer to eliminating child marriage.
The Missouri House approved a bill that, among many other things, would raise the minimum age for marriage to 18, but not without a fiery debate.
The minimum age to get married in Missouri was raised from 15 to 16 years old in 2018. Teens wishing to get married have to get permission from at least one parent and their spouse has to be younger than 21.
The bill needs one final vote from the Senate to be sent to the governor. In previous votes, only one senator stood against raising the age for marriage, Ash Grove Republican Sen. Mike Moon. This bill ed out of the Senate last year, but it couldn’t get enough from the House.
For years, some lawmakers have tried to raise the legal age for marriage in Missouri. They claim allowing 16 and 17-year-olds to get married leads to domestic abuse, marriages riddled with uneven power dynamics and even allows sex trafficking.
“As the only child welfare professional on either side of this chamber, I can tell you that I’ve gone through this bill and it will do nothing but protect children,” said Lee’s Summit Democratic Rep. Kari Ingle. “If you walk on this bill, it’s definitely because you child marriage.”
Several lawmakers stood up today in defense of young marriage with stories of grandparents who made it work at a young age. Poplar Bluff Republican Rep. Hardy Billington claims raising the age for marriage will increase abortions. In total, 33 lawmakers did not vote in favor of the bill.
“At 16 and 17, when you’re going to have a baby and you cannot get married, the chances of having an abortion triple,” Billington said. “And so, we all claim to be pro-life here in this body, claim to be pro-life, so now we’re going to vote on this bill where babies are gonna die if we this bill.”
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