Credit Where It's Due: Delaware Becomes The First State To Fully Ban Child Marriage

WTVR- Delaware has made history as the first state in the nation to ban child marriage under all circumstances. Democratic Gov. John Carney signed a bill this week making it illegal for anyone under age 18 to get married, even with parental consent. Before this, minors in Delaware could get married at any age with parental consent and a judge’s approval, officials said. Despite most US state laws setting the age of marital consent at 18, every other state and the District of Columbia have loopholes for minors seeking marriage licenses, experts say. Texas and Virginia, for instance last year enacted new laws limiting marriage to those 18 and older, but they made narrow exceptions for minors granted adult rights by the courts. “Most US states set the minimum age at 18,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement. “But except for Delaware, all still allow exceptions, most of which are very broad — for example with parental permission, or for pregnancy. In 23 states, children of any age can marry under some circumstances.”

Hey! Alright! Give it up for Delaware! One of those things you just assumed was illegal everywhere but turns out it’s only fully illegal in Delaware. How did this even come about? What politician popped outta bed one day and was like, “Hey we should probably ban child marriage”? It’s a good idea. You’d just think somebody would’ve thought of that before the year 2018. Imagine thinking about getting married before you turn 18. I’m 29 years old and I’d say I’m about 14% ready to get married. I’m not even dating anyone. I’m just saying I have 14% of the maturity it takes to get married. I can do laundry and pay most (some) of my bills on time. Everything else? I’m a borderline lost cause.

I will say, I come from the land of people getting married young. People get married super young in the Midwest. All of my friends are either married or about to get married. The only good part of that is I get to go to a bunch of weddings and weddings are dope. Get all fancy, slam a bunch of drinks and dance? Sign me up every time. Anyway. A bunch of my friends have kids too. It’s crazy. But when I say “super young” I mean they got married at like 23. That’s about a decade and a half too early by my estimation. So to think there’s kids, literal kids, out there who think it’s a good idea to get married is bananas. I don’t even talk to 97% of the people I knew when I was 18. To think I’d pick one of those people to spend the rest of my life? Nah. Good job Delaware? Bad job the rest of the country? Not sure who to congratulate.