Posted by:
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Date: June 03, 2019 12:44PM
Louisiana does not have a minimum age limit for marriage.
https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/legislature/article_920fdaf0-85a4-11e9-a334-bb5f784e01c1.html"Polk County Barbie"
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/70/2b/fd/702bfd652c50bad09193924814eb7f78.jpgWe want children to be born into wedlock if possible,” said Rep. Nancy Landry, R-Lafayette. “We’re discouraging that with this. If they’re both 16 or 15 and having a baby why wouldn’t we want them to get married?”
“A lot of 16-year-olds get pregnant,” added Rep. Valarie Hodges, R-Denham Springs. “Do you feel it’s better for them to not get married at all and for the child to be born illegitimately?”
State Rep. Beryl Amedee, R-Houma, brought an amendment backed by the influential Louisiana Family Forum to heavily rewrite the bill, stripping out the age floor set by Hilferty’s amendment and allowing minors to get married if they undergo a judicial review. A judge would consider a long list of factors when deciding if children should get married.
“I met my husband when I was 14 and he was 15 and if it wasn’t for the belief that we should get a high school diploma before we get married, I would have gotten married at 15,” Amedee said.
Smith, D-Baton Rouge, said she was “in awe” of the opposition to the bill, especially because efforts to provide sex education in Louisiana have repeatedly failed. She pointed to instances of teenage girls being wedded to men in their 30s and 40s.
“That’s not right in our state,” Smith said. “We need to protect our children.”