Time for a true minimum-age marriage law

Although the legal minimum marriage age in this state is 18, there are exceptions to that rule.

For instance, if parents concur, children under 18 can enter into matrimony, even those younger than 16, the legal age of consent.

Legislative efforts to remove that parental loophole, which our courts have honored, so far have found resistance in the House.

Back in July 2019, the Senate, on a 39- 0 vote, approved and sent the House a bill that would have banned the marriage of anyone under the age of 18.

“It’s about time Massachusetts ended child marriage, a human rights abuse that destroys girls’ lives and benefits no one other than child rapists,” commented Fraidy Reiss at the time, founder and executive director of Unchained At Last, the group behind the ban. “Pennsylvania and Minnesota figured out how to eliminate child marriage during this pandemic. Massachusetts can and must do the same.”

State Rep. Kay Khan, DNewton, and Sen. Harriette Chandler, D-worcester, have filed companion bills to end so-called child marriages in Massachusetts.

Rep. Khan told Beacon Hill Roll Call that “according to the Massachusetts court case database, a total of nine marriage of minor cases were filed in the Probate and Family Court since January of 2020.”

The bills’ supporters haven’t let the House’s inaction diminish their resolve.

Along with state Rep. Donato, D-medford, Khan and Chandler have filed bills H.1709/S. 937, an act to end child marriage in Massachusetts.

Passing a no-exception, minimum 18 marriage law constitutes more than an intellectual exercise.

According to one local legislator’s op-ed commentary, under-18 marriages are fraught with damaging consequences.

State Rep. Natalie Higgins, a Leominster Democrat, outlined several reasons why underage marriages should be banned.

While too many to enumerate here, we believe these points make her case:

■ From 2000 to 2018, of the 1,246 underage marriages allowed by Massachusetts courts, more than 80% involved young girls marrying older men.

■ Married children lack essential rights of adulthood, such as the ability to independently file for divorce, and also face difficulty retaining legal counsel, as contracts with children are voidable.

■ Women married before the age of 18 are three times more likely to suffer intimate partner violence than women married at 21 or older.

■ Married teen mothers are less likely to return to school than their unmarried counterparts and more likely to suffer economic deprivation and insecurity if the marriage ends, which is likely to happen since 70%- 80% of all child marriages end in divorce.

■ As for children who willingly want to enter into marriage: Surely, we can ask them to wait when it comes to marriage, given the known dangers, until they have the legal rights needed to navigate this serious contract.

■ At least half the country has reformed their state child marriage laws in the last five years. Six states — Delaware, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania — have also set a minimum age of 18 years.

Like many legislative initiatives, these bills have taken a back seat to other high- profile efforts, including redistricting and the failed effort to allocate federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.

We’re certain these legislators will continue to advocate for the Legislature’s passage of an ironclad minimum-18 marriage bill, and with that process convince the necessary number of House members of the moral and legal necessity to do so.