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OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A bill in Washington state to establish a minimum marriage age of 18 has stalled again in the Legislature.
- Children of any age can still get married in Washington state. If they’re 17, they can do so with parental consent, and if they’re younger than that, they need approval from a judge
- According to nonprofit organization Unchained At Last, between 2000 and 2018 nearly 300,000 children were married in the U.S., and most of the marriages were between girls and adult men.
- In Washington state, 4,831 people younger than age 18 were married between 2000 and 2018, according to the organization. And Washington is one of just a handful of states that don’t specify a minimum age for marriage.
Democratic Sen. Manka Dhingra of Redmond, who is chair of the Law and Justice Committee, told the newspaper she had to evaluate which of the 65 bills that were sent to her committee needed to pass this year.
“I look forward to giving it a hearing next session,” Dhingra said.
The legislative session ends Sunday and lawmakers will convene again in early 2024.