Washington state is on the cusp of setting a new bar for marriage age, pushing it firmly to 18 years old. The milestone comes as House Bill 1455 cleared both the state House and Senate, now awaiting the governor's signature. Lawmakers have been grappling with this issue for years, seeing previous bills stalling or failing to take hold. This time around, the House gave it a resounding nod on the session's first day, and the Senate followed suit with an emphatic 48-1 vote last Friday, as reported by KATU News.
Only one senator, Spokane Republican Jeff Holy, cast against the bill citing concerns not specified in reports. For a state that permitted 17-year-olds to marry with parental consent and even younger individuals with a judge's nod, the shift represents a significant tightening of regulations. Advocates for this change argue that it will reduce domestic violence, and unwanted pregnancies and will polish the lives of teens who have been steered too early into adult commitments. Democrat Rep. Monica Stonier, of Vancouver, who introduced the measure, expressed sentiments of haulting the "generational trauma," in a statement obtained by OPB.
The context this legislation is birthed from is staggering. Nationwide, nearly 300,000 minors were married between 2000 and 2018, with a majority being young girls to adult men, as KOIN News cites from Unchained At Last research. Shockingly, children as young as 10 were part of this number. In Washington state alone, over 5,000 individuals under 18 were married between 2000 and 2021, many reportedly under parental pressure.
Neighboring states like Oregon and Idaho maintain lower minimum marriage ages at 17 and 16, respectively. But Washington's proposed legal amendment, which Governor Jay Inslee is expected to sign, would align it with the ten other states that have already banned marriage before 18. The move, heralded by constituents and lawmakers alike, is anticipated to become effective in June this year, according to a statement obtained by OPB. For many young Washingtonians, this could herald the end of an era where childhood and adolescence are cut short by the heavy, and sometimes, coercive hand of marriage.
