West Virginia bans marriage for children age 15 or younger

[jgo]

Source: Associated Press

West Virginia will no longer allow children under 16 to marry, after the governor signed a compromise bill Wednesday.

The law signed by Republican Gov. Jim Justice continues allowing children ages 16 and 17 to get married with restrictions. Under the new law, those minors must get parental consent and can’t marry someone more than four years older than them. Existing legal marriages, and those done in other states, are unaffected.

Previously, anyone younger than 16 could have gotten married with a judge’s waiver.

Some Democrats, including the bill’s sponsor, Del. Kayla Young of Kanawha County, had hoped to eliminate child marriage altogether. Some Republicans in the GOP-dominated Legislature spoke about how they or their parents had married before adulthood and argued that state recognition of the relationships helps keep families together.


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/child-marriage-ban-west-virginia-713a340ee516c6377db7bb52a817d133

[bahboo]

1. how progressive of them...

jesus christ.....

[OAITW r.2.0]

2. That's 3 years lower than most normal states. OK to marry your cousin here, too?

Way to destroy your daughter's lives WV.....

[TwilightZone]

5. No, it's not.

The vast majority of states have a marriage age of 16, the same as WV now requires. None have a marriage age of 19.

[OAITW r.2.0]

6. Cool, 15 it is!

Cuz, this should be what we want for our daughters.

[prodigitalson]

20. it only applies to girls?

weird and clearly unconstitutional

[jgo]

8. If I am looking at a correct table ...

the minimum is 18 in the following places:

Delaware
Massachusetts
Minnesota
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
American Samoa
Puerto Rico
U.S. Virgin Islands

The highest appears to be Puerto Rico - parental consent required from 18-20, generally allowed at 21

[Hekate]

3. How young do they have to be to be forced to carry a pregnancy to term? Just asking for a friend.

[underpants]

4. My family is from WV.

West Virginia had the highest rate of child marriages among the states, according to the Pew Research Center. There were around seven marriages for every 1,000 children ages 15 to 17 in West Virginia in data collected from 2010 to 2014, compared to around 4.6 marriages per 1,000 for the same age group nationwide. More recent figures were unavailable.

[llmart]

7. What year is this anyway?

1899? Don't you just love the rationalization the Goobers use, "My parents were 13 when they got married, and that worked out OK."

And some people wonder why West Virginia gets a bad rap. Low test scores and graduation rates, high poverty levels, etc. etc. etc. One of these days West Virginia may just crawl into the 20th century.

smh

[Warpy]

9. 16 year old girls survive childbirth

Twelve year olds, not so much.

From a health standpoint alone, this is progress.

From other standpoints, thank goodness for the divorce courts. That's usually what happens.

[eppur_se_muova]

10. The end of a proud tradition. nt

[Mawspam2]

11. So now a 16yo can't marry her father until she turns 18.

I guess that's progress. 🚸

[BigmanPigman]

12. Why do I hear the sound of Dueling Banjos in the background?

[Earth-shine]

15. Young girls were not the object of desire in Deliverance -- it was Ned Beatty!

[BigmanPigman]

16. You're right!

That was such a good film.

[Earth-shine]

17. Did you know that Jon Voight actually climbed that cliff so that it could be well-filmed?

No stunt double.

He's now an attention-starved, right-wing mouthpiece, but let's give credit where it's due.

Awesome movie. No digital effects.

If I didn't already know, if anyone told me that NB would be "sought-after" in a movie, I don't think I'd take it seriously.

Cheers BP

[prodigitalson]

21. Boone County mating call

wait for it

[Aussie105]

13. Mother at 16, obligatory shotgun wedding!

Grandmom at 32.

Great grandma at 48.

etc

Sure is a great way to populate your state!

But those backwoods log cabins sure get crowded!

[NullTuples]

14. "a compromise bill" - the phrasing makes you wonder

Were they like, bargaining over what year is "too young"?

[JanMichael]

18. Still waking up. Read that as 15 or older. Cool.

[twodogsbarking]

19. WV needs help. Lowest life expectancy among states with a myriad of other problems,

including ignorance.