Child marriage bill lives, deciding vote Friday morning

Mar. 9—The full West Virginia Senate will decide the fate of House Bill 3018 Friday morning, giving new life to legislation that was thought to be dead after the Judiciary Committee voted it down, 9-8, Wednesday night with the help of a Wyoming County legislator.

The bill, as it is written now, will prevent children under the age of 18 from marrying — even with parental consent or a judge's waiver.

At the end of the floor session on Thursday, the committee's chairman made a motion to discharge it, according to reporting by MetroNews, sending it out of committee to the full Senate. The Senate majority leader then called the question, meaning that there would be no further debate about the motion.

Senator Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, said he was frustrated over what happened with the bill in committee.

Senator David "Bugs" Stover, R-Wyoming, was among those voting against the bill.

"I was torn," Stover told The Register-Herald.

"It was close; but, there are two women senators on Judiciary. These two women were the most vocal. I voted as they did — since I was torn by the arguments of both sides," Stover said.

Several senators also shared "glowing stories of their parents, who were married at 16 and still in love 50 years later," Stover noted.

Current state law allows a 16-year-old to get married with parental consent, and children under the age of 16 can marry if a judge signs a waiver allowing it.

West Virginia has the highest rate of child marriage in the country, according to some research groups.

In 2019, there were 44 brides and eight grooms aged less than 18 years, according to West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources Bureau for Public Health vital statistics.

In 2018, there were 53 brides and six grooms less than 18 years of age — all marrying for the first time.

In 2017, those under the age of 18 years included 46 brides, two of whom were getting married for the second time, and 11 grooms, one who was marrying for the second time.

In 2016, there were 64 brides and 14 grooms under the age of 18 — all marrying for the first time.

In 2015, there were 52 brides and 13 grooms under the age of 18 — all marrying for the first time, according to DHHR statistics.

In 2014, according to the Pew Research Center, 7.1 in 1,000 15- to 17-year-olds in West Virginia were married — far above the national average of 4.6 in 1,000.

House Bill 3018 was overwhelmingly approved by the House of Delegates with a vote of 84-13 one week before the Senate committee vote on Wednesday.

"For now, there will be no floor for the age of marriage in WV, endangering our kids," Del. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, wrote on Twitter after the Senate committee vote. She is the bill's main sponsor.

According to supporters of the legislation, teen marriages are unhealthy and often result in domestic and sexual abuse, dropping out of school, a life of poverty, unwanted pregnancies, and divorce.

Opponents counter that teenage marriages are a part of life in rural West Virginia.

Senate Judiciary Committee members who voted for the billwere Chairman Charles Trump, R-Morgan; Vice Chair Ryan Weld, R-Brooke; Mike Caputo, D-Marion; Vince Deeds, R-Greenbrier; Bill Hamilton, R-Upshur; Chandler Swope, R-Mercer; Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha; and Michael Woelfel, D-Cabell.

Voting against the bill were Michael Azinger, R-Wood; Laura Wakim Chapman, R-Ohio; Mark Hunt, R-Kanawha; Patrick Martin, R-Lewis; Mark Maynard, R-Wayne; Patricia Puertas Rucker, R-Jefferson; David Stover, R-Wyoming; Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha; and Jay Taylor, R-Taylor.