COLUMBUS, Ohio — A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced a bill that would outlaw child marriage in Ohio.
Instead of taking a driver’s test, going to dances, or walking down the aisle to graduate high school.
"No child should have to be as resilient as I was to reach adulthood," child marriage survivor Stephanie Lowry said.
Some teens, like Lowry, walked down a different aisle.
"At 16, I already faced the hardship of becoming a teen mom; becoming a wife only added to it," she said.
After her father died, Lowry's mother, a strict Jehovah’s Witness, forced her to marry the 19-year-old man who impregnated her.
"Marriage became a solution, not for me, but for her," she said. "It removed the burden from her life and transferred it to someone else."
Since 2000, more than 5,000 kids were married as minors, Unchained At Last, an organization dedicated to ending underage marriage, reported using Department of Health data. Unchained Founder Fraidy Reiss, who was forced to marry a stranger at 19, explained that 50 17-year-olds have gotten married between 2020 and 2024, ODH said.
"It is time to end this human rights abuse in Ohio; it is time to end child marriage," Reiss said. "Girls matter. Almost all the minors who marry here are girls wed to adult men."
Before 2019, Ohio had no minimum age to get married. Although the state had promoted 16 for girls to be able to be wed, there were exceptions for any age if the child received parental and judicial consent, the Ohio Women's Public Policy Network reported.
Still, 17-year-olds are able to marry someone up to four years older than them, as long as a juvenile court signs off on it.
"I was still a minor, so my husband became my legal guardian," Lowry said.
As the marriage became abusive, Lowry said she had no resources.
Even with a ring on her finger, she was still a child in the eyes of the law.
"Most shelters won't take a minor," she said, adding they wanted to separate her and her child in foster homes. "I was unable to file for divorce on my own or even sign a lease."
State Sens. Bill Blessing (R-Colerain Township) and Bill DeMora (D-Columbus) have introduced a bill that would change this.
"If you’re going to get married in Ohio, you have to be 18," Blessing said during a press conference, to applause. "Period."
There is a companion bill in the House, which is also bipartisan. State Reps. Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) and Monica Robb Blasdel (R-New Waterford) will carry it through that chamber.
While this bill is bipartisan and there are no public opponents, it may face an uphill battle. Many domestic violence-type pieces of legislation take years to pass, if they even get that far.
After decades, Ohio only outlawed spousal rape in 2024.
RELATED: Survivors rejoice as Ohio lawmakers vote to make it illegal to drug, rape spouse
"How are you going to prevent this bill from dying without any public opponents?" I asked the lawmakers.
"Bill and I are but two out of 132 in the General Assembly," Blessing said. "There, obviously, are no guarantees with it, but again, something like this should be cut and dry, and I have to imagine, the more that this comes out publicly — I would not want to be on the other side of this issue."
Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) acknowledged that the Democrats had to compromise with Republicans to even get any age limits in while debating the earlier legislation in 2018 and 2019.
"Sometimes incremental change is the best we can do to move something forward," Antonio said.
I asked the lawmakers where a lot of this pushback was coming from. Blessing said he isn't sure, but DeMora added that he's excited for opponents to testify.
"I'll just rip into them, because it's ridiculous," DeMora said. "I'm passionate. I'm trying to be diplomatic during this press conference, but anybody that comes out against this bill is going to have my full Sicilian wrath."
While no public opponents have come forward, some religious activists have quietly argued that child marriages should be allowed in the case of a teen pregnancy.
"Child marriage made my life harder than it ever needed to be," Lowry said. "It removed the choices at the exact moment I needed protection the most."
Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) said he wasn't familiar with the legislation, but said that the chamber will "probably pass it."
Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.
