COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio's top Republican legislative leaders differ on whether child marriage deserves a "debate" at the Statehouse.
A bill to end child marriages, one introduced in February, has remained stagnant in a Senate committee. It has no public opponents.
RELATED: Bipartisan bill would end child marriage in Ohio
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.
"We're still not protecting these girls," Stephanie Lowry, a child marriage survivor, said in an interview. "The same issues are still there."
Lowry was one of two dozen women wearing wedding dresses who protested outside the Statehouse on Wednesday.
When Lowry was 16, her mom forced her to marry the adult man who got her pregnant, she said. There were "hidden legal loopholes" that allowed for this, she added.
Even with a ring on her finger, she was still a child in the eyes of the law.
"I was in a battered women's shelter where I could not get an attorney," she said. "I could not sign a lease. My legal guardian was my abuser, my husband, who was 20 years old."
While no opponents have come forward, some religious activists have argued that some child marriages should be allowed in the case of a teen pregnancy, which, according to some lawmakers, is why the bill has been paused in committee.
"Do you think that there should be this huge debate on making it so that only 18 and up can get married?" I asked House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima). "Do you think there's merit to people who say that you can be 17 and marry an adult?"
"Yeah, well, I do think there should be a debate," Huffman responded.
The reason why it's in law is because of previous cultural sentiments, before women had economic freedom.
"I think certainly things have changed in the last 150 years and how society operates and sees itself," Huffman said.
Fifteen-year-olds used to be able to get married to adults because that was the "way things were," he said.
He then brought up how even 18-year-olds can't buy alcohol, but can enlist in the military.
"These are sort of tough questions because, do you trust 17-year-old kids with your four kids for three or four hours at night? Well, yeah, but you don't trust 17-year-olds to do a lot of other things," Huffman continued. "I would suggest that marriage is the most important decision that any individual makes in their life, so I think there's merit to the discussion."
Some of the protestors were shocked by Huffman's comments and asked how the debate would go.
"They have no rights as adults, the law clearly states that adulthood starts at 18, and so we shouldn't be getting married under 18 when we have no legal rights," Lowry said. "We're putting these minors in danger."
Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) has said previously that he is supportive of ending child marriage, even as the bill stalls. I mentioned Huffman's response to my question.
"Do you think that it's ever a debate or discussion for a 17-year-old to marry an adult?" I asked McColley.
"Personally, no," he responded. "I don't."
"Can you explain further?" I probed.
"I think that's pretty, pretty clear, Morgan," he replied, before turning to another reporter.
Although McColley controls the chamber, there may not be enough votes to pass it if he brings it to the floor.
State Sen. Bill DeMora (D-Columbus), a sponsor of the bipartisan bill, said that several Republicans say they don't want to interfere in people's personal lives.
"They want to dictate what a woman could do with their own bodily stuff if they got pregnant, but it's unconscionable if we determine that 18-year-olds should be married or not," he said.
These excuses don't hold water, he added.
"It's all hypocritical, and it's just frustrating that something that had no opposition in committee by any citizen of Ohio now is being held up by a couple of members," DeMora said, using an expletive to describe the views of those select members of the GOP.
House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati) was equally upset that some Republicans are blocking the bill.
"It is shocking on so many levels that we are having a debate about child marriage in 2026 here in Ohio," Isaacsohn said, emphatically saying that it needs to be outlawed.
DeMora has previously said that McColley will need to force a public vote if the bill doesn't move.
"All these laws hurt me, and they still hurt kids today," Lowry said.
Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.
