By Holly Thompson-Rehder, state senator
Hi Y’all! The Senate is working very long days in the final weeks of session, but it has been absolutely wonderful when I do manage to get outside to see the vibrancy of spring in full affect. Sunshine does make you happier and more optimistic, as does seeing bipartisan, overdue legislation take a big step towards fixing our state’s antiquated marriage laws.
Senate Bill 767 was passed by the body last Thursday. This is the bill I filed to ban child marriage by changing Missouri’s legal marriage age, setting the number at 18. No ifs, ands or buts. I was proud to have one of my female colleagues from across the aisle cosponsor the bill and show that this is not a political issue, but a simple matter of right and wrong.
Currently, the laws around this issue are ambiguous and, as we have found from our work in child exploitation and sex trafficking, leave too many loopholes that make Missouri a prime target for child traffickers. This bill removes provisions that change the age based on parental or judicial permissions, making it easy to understand: 18 and above. In Missouri, you must be 18 to sign a legally binding contract. Why should this lifetime legally binding commitment be any different? More importantly, it protects young women from anyone who would want to use the loose language to corner them into relationships that are troublesome at best, and abusive at worst.
Women have so much more opportunity than we had 50 years ago when marriage before 18 was more common. No longer is it the norm for us to be “barefoot in the kitchen,” unless that’s what a woman chooses for herself. With statistics showing us that 79% of child marriages end in divorce, this legislative change is past its time to pass.
I was happy to see this bill pass through the Senate with practically no opposition. It can be downright depressing the amount of work it can take to get commonsense changes across the finish line. This is a big win at a time when we are heading into negotiations on the Fiscal Year 2025 state operating budget and need to have the legislative kinks worked out in order to do great things for the people of Missouri.
In closing, as someone who got married at 15 years old, I can unequivocally say you should be an adult when you make this decision. This one’s for the girls.