'Why would we stop that?' Missouri Republicans oppose bill to end child marriage

09 May 2024

Several Republican members of the Missouri House of Representatives are coming out in opposition to a bill by a Republican state senator to end child marriages in the Show Me State.

According to the Kansas City Star, the bill — co-sponsored by Republican state senator Holly Thompson Rehder and Democratic state senator Lauren Arthur — may not pass the lower chamber of the Missouri legislature due to GOP opposition. Thompson Rehder's bill prohibits marriage licenses from being granted in Missouri to anyone under the age of 18. Currently 16 and 17 year-olds can get marriage licenses with parental consent, and marriages are currently banned between minors and anyone aged 21 and up.

Republicans in opposition to the bill cited examples of people who married as teens who are still together and "madly in love." They argued Arthur and Thompson Rehder's bill would effectively be bad for families in which spouses married young. Rep. Dean VanSchoiak (R), who is vice chair of the Government Efficiency and Downsizing Committee, is one of the more outspoken opponents of the bill.

“Why is the government getting involved in people’s lives like this?” VanSchoiak said. “What purpose do we have in deciding that a couple who are 16 or 17 years old, their parents say, you know, ‘you guys love each other, go ahead and get married, you have my permission.’ Why would we stop that?”

The Star reported that the bill may not even make it out of the committee, as seven of the 14 members are on the record in opposition to it. Moreover, the current meeting of the Missouri legislature is due to adjourn on May 17, giving the bill roughly a week to make it out of committee and be passed by both chambers in order to get to the governor's desk.

"“It’s on the…going 16 to 18,” said bill supporter Rep. Jim Murphy (R), who chairs the committee, on the opposition from his fellow Republicans. “There’s just enough members in that committee that don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Sen. Arthur, who is championing the legislation, lamented the bill's likely failure in the current session. She told the Star that "any explanation used to justify opposition is nothing more than, you know, an excuse to protect predators."

Thompson Rehder told her own personal story earlier this year when she first introduced the bill. She married her 21 year-old boyfriend at the age of 15 in order to get away from abusive parents.

"As I got older, I started realizing I wasn't old enough to make that decision," she said in March. "My life would have been on a much better path had I actually toughed it out, had I stayed in high school, not gotten married, finished high school."

Last year, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice (R) signed a bill outlawing anyone under 16 years old from getting married in the Mountain State. However, it's still possible for 16 and 17-year-olds to marry in West Virginia, provided their suitor is under 21 and they obtain parental consent.

Click here to read the Star's full report (subscription required).

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