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Supporters urge Oregon to raise marriage age to 18, telling personal and policy harms at public hearing
Summary
Advocates, survivors and human-rights groups told the House Judiciary Committee SB 548 should raise the legal marriage age to 18 with no exceptions, citing links to domestic violence, school dropout and human trafficking.
Supporters of Senate Bill 548 urged the House Committee on Judiciary to end all underage marriage in Oregon, telling the committee on Tuesday that the existing parental-consent exception harms mostly girls and can be used to evade statutory sexual-offense laws.
Kaylee McGuire, testifying on behalf of Senator Janeen Sollman, said the bill would raise the marriage age to 18 and described research linking underage marriage to poverty, domestic violence, adolescent pregnancy, mental health and substance-use disorders. “The United Nations defines marriage before the ages of 18 as a fundamental violation of human rights,” she said.
Nut graf: Witnesses including survivors and national advocacy groups described patterns they say are common when minors…
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