Child marriage will remain legal in Missouri for at least another year after Republican House leaders said they don鈥檛 have enough time to pass it.
Under current Missouri law, anyone under 16 is prohibited from getting married. But 16 and 17 year olds can get married with parental consent to anyone under 21.
Under legislation that with virtually no opposition earlier this year, marriage would be banned for anyone under 18. 鈥淚t was very surprising that the House has not allowed it to come to the body,鈥� said Republican state Sen. Holly Thompson Rehder of Scott City, who sponsored the bill along with Sen. Lauren Arthur, a Democrat of Kansas City.
鈥淏anning child marriage should not be controversial. When I filed this bill, I had no idea it would be controversial,鈥� Rehder added.
The bill was stalled by a group of Republican in a House committee, who said it would constitute government overreach and infringe on parental rights. It finally out of committee this week after several of those critics were not present at the vote.
But House leadership told reporters Friday morning it was too late to place the bill on the House calendar for debate. Session ends at 6 p.m.
鈥淭here鈥檚 some interest there, unfortunately the rules preclude us from doing that today,鈥� said House Majority Leader Jon Patterson, a Lee鈥檚 Summit Republican.
Arthur said the failure is 鈥渟hameful.鈥�
鈥淲hen I talk to people back home, they鈥檙e surprised to learn that minors can get married in the first place,鈥� Arthur said. 鈥淎nd these are the kinds of headlines that my friends who are apolitical or live in different parts of the country send me and say, 鈥榃hat is happening in Missouri?鈥�
鈥淚t makes us look bad,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut more importantly, we鈥檙e not doing enough to protect young girls who are forced into marriages and their lives are worse in every way as a result.鈥�
Twelve other states have in recent years banned child marriage.
Rehder said she was told only around 20 out of 163 House members were opposed. She also said the House could have voted to suspend its rules to allow the bill to be debated and passed before adjournment, but suggested that House Speaker Dean Plocher refused to let the bill move forward to avoid embarrassing Republicans who are opposed to banning child marriage.
鈥淲e have the votes,鈥� Rehder said, but it didn鈥檛 come up 鈥渂ecause the speaker didn鈥檛 want to put his members in a bad situation.鈥�
鈥溾�ecause you shouldn鈥檛 be against banning child marriage.鈥�
Rehder said she鈥檚 hopeful the bill will succeed next year, in large part due to the 鈥減ublic pressure鈥� of state and national media.
鈥淵ou cannot sign a legal binding contract in Missouri until you鈥檙e 18. But we鈥檙e allowing a parent to sign a child into a lifetime commitment. It鈥檚 ridiculous.鈥�
Rehder attributed some of the opposition to generational differences.
鈥淧eople who have been against it 鈥� the men who have been against it 鈥� who talk to me about it have said, 鈥極h, my grandmother got married at 15.鈥� Well, yes I did too, mine was 40 years ago,鈥� Rehder said.
鈥淎nd it didn鈥檛 work out because I was operating on not an adult mindset.鈥�
Fraidy Reiss, an activist who founded the nonprofit against forced marriage Unchained at Last was active in testifying in support of the bill in Missouri and has worked nationally to pass similar legislation. Upon hearing the news, Reiss said: 鈥淗ow can legislators live with themselves?鈥�
She added that 鈥渄ozens of teens will be subjected to a human rights abuse and legally trafficked under the guise of marriage in the coming year,鈥� due to the failure to pass the legislation.
鈥溾�ow will they explain that to their constituents?鈥�
This story was originally published by the part of the States Newsroom.
