On Tuesday, April 26, 2022, the House of Representatives added about $27.26 million in new spending to the House’s fiscal year 2023 budget plan. Targeted towards public safety and the court system, this addition coming on the second day of budget debates, tackled the second amalgamated amendment package wherein
the House unanimously adopted (155-0) Amendment #1443 to Bill #H4700: Banning Child Marriage in Massachusetts.
Drawing the attention of lawmakers and advocates for years on Beacon Hill, the current law allows anyone under the age of 18 to get married with parental consent. However, minors who marry cannot always access the legal and social services they would need to end a marriage.
The Senate voted in 2019 to ban child marriages, but it did not emerge in the House. “This consolidated amendment will prospectively end the practice of marrying young girls off here in Massachusetts and it will also provide relief to those minors currently in marriages by empowering them to seek annulments and divorce on their own,” Rep. Michael Day, House chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said. “The law must evolve with society, and today we take a significant step forward in that respect.”
Rep. Bud Williams, House chairman of the Joint Committee on Racial Equity, Civil Rights, and Inclusion further added, “We have heard the stories, and seen far too often the plight of young women who have either been forced into marriage or who have because of the innocence of youth, marry for love, only to realize after the fact that their union is unfulfilling, unhealthy, or detrimental to their safety and well-being. Because of their age, they have little or no resources to get out. This amendment prohibits the marriage of anyone under the legal age of 18 years old. More importantly, it addresses the injustices of the sex trades where young girls are married off to older men who then become not only their husbands but their legal guardians as well, most often resulting in physical and mental abuse. Banning child marriage gives these young women a voice to choose their own destinies”.
