JUNEAU, ALASKA -- A bill in the Alaska House would repeal a provision of law that allows a court to grant permission for someone as young as 14 to marry.
House members on Wednesday adopted the repeal as an amendment to a bill dealing with witness requirements for marriage. A vote on the amended bill was pending; the House next meets Friday. The measure, if it passes, would still have to go to the Senate.
The bill would leave in place another provision of law that allows for 16 and 17 year olds to marry with parental consent.
Republican Rep. Sara Rasmussen of Anchorage offered the amendment. She said she considered it "probably one of the most significant things that we can do as a legislative body this session."
"I think about 14-year-olds. They're freshmen in high school. They are children," she said during floor debate, adding later: "We have the opportunity here today to make this change to protect children in Alaska from something that in today's time is not in the best interest of the child."
The proposal would repeal a section of law that spells out a process under which a court can grant permission for someone as young as 14 years old to marry.
