WORLD NEWS | Bill to ban marriages under 16 in West Virginia

CHARLESTON (United States), March 11 (AP) — The West Virginia Senate passed a child marriage bill Friday night after it was amended to ban anyone under the age of 16 from marrying and banning marriages between 16 and 4 years old. The age gap between the years was more than four years. and 17 year old.

The Senate passed the bill 31 to 1. It now goes to the House of Representatives, which previously passed its own version. The legislative session ends on Saturday.

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“I hope we pass something because the situation we’re in right now is intolerable,” said Senator Charles Trump, Republican of Morgan County.

Currently, in West Virginia, children as young as 16 can marry with parental consent. It allows anyone younger than that to marry with a judge’s exemption.

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The Senate bill would eliminate the possibility of anyone under the age of 16 marrying. Those aged 16 and 17 must have parental consent, and they cannot marry someone four years older than them.

Existing legal marriages, including those contracted in other states, will not be affected.

The bill, which was considered dead when it was defeated by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday night, was resurrected in the Senate on Thursday and moved to a final vote on Friday.

Since 2018, seven states have set the minimum age for marriage at 18, according to Unchained At Last, a nonprofit that aims to end forced and child marriage. Supporters of such legislation say it reduces domestic violence, unwanted pregnancies and improves the lives of teens.

Most states allow 16- and 17-year-olds to marry, but with some strings attached, Trump said.

“I know this has been a contentious issue among a lot of people,” Trump said. “I hope this will be seen as a reasonable and acceptable compromise, and a necessary change to our laws. It will bring West Virginia in line with the vast majority of states in the country.”

While the most recent data is not available, West Virginia had the highest child marriage rate of any state in 2014, when the state’s five-year average was 1 per 1,000 children ages 15 to 17, according to the Pew Research Center. 7.1 people were married.

Sen. Eric Tarr, a Putnam County Republican, said he married in high school at age 17 and had his first child five days after graduation. He said he likes Trump’s version of the bill because it “protects families.” (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)