Some good news out of Pennsylvania has cut through the bad coronavirus news cycle.
The state’s Governor Tom Wolf signed into law a ban on child marriage on Friday, making them the third state to outlaw marriage for people under the age of 18, CBS News reports.
The law was unanimously voted in the legislature as part of House Bill 360, which set 18 as the minimum age to get a marriage licence.
Before, those between ages 16 and 18 needed parental consent; those younger than 16 needed court approval, CBS-affiliate WKBN-TV says.
“Setting the minimum age to obtain a marriage licence will help prevent child exploitation,” Wolf said in a statement. “Marriage is a sacred and serious commitment that should be undertaken with love by two adults, not by children being exploited by unscrupulous adults.”
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According to Unchained At Last, an organization that advocates to end child marriage, 47 states currently allow children under the age of 18 to get married.
“Obviously, one child’s parental consent is another child’s parental coercion, but state laws do not call for anyone to ask the children whether they are being pressured into marriage,” the organization’s website reads.
“Even when a girl sobs openly while her parents sign the application and force her into marriage, the clerk has no authority to intervene.”
In some states, children under the age of 16 can be married with a judge’s approval. The organization says this is when the age difference is such that it would legally constitute statutory rape.
The legislation was first drafted last month by Reps. Jesse Topper and Perry Warren, Local 12 reports. It gained bipartisan support, as well as support from Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR).
Per national data released by Unchained, more than 250,000 underage girls were forced into marriage between 2000 and 2010.
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