The Texas House voted 87-48 to pass a bill that would ban all child marriages in the state, including those involving emancipated minors as young as 16.
House Bill 168 aims to close a legal loophole that its supporters say enables trafficking of children.
The legislation would make Texas one of a growing number of states to completely prohibit marriage for anyone under 18, regardless of parental consent or legal status. If enacted, it would invalidate all current marriages where one partner is still a minor.
“I brought this bill, originally, to protect our Texas children from a loophole in the law that allows trafficking of these kids. And that is certainly still my goal,” said the bill’s sponsor, The Texas Tribune reported.
Democratic Representative Jon Rosenthal from Houston introduced the legislation with specific concerns about age gaps in some marriages. The bill targets situations where significantly older adults marry teenagers who have been emancipated from their parents.
“My primary concern was with the few marriages in our state over recent years where men aged 40 to 50 were marrying girls aged 16 to 17,” Rosenthal stated, per the Tribune.
“There are instances of severe age gaps of these emancipated minors, 10, 20, or even 30 years of age difference between them,” Rosenthal said, according to a report by Red River Radio.
The Tahirih Justice Center, an organization fighting gender-based violence, has endorsed the bill.
“Passing H.B. 168 would be a huge step forward in ending child marriage — in many cases, an insidious form of child abuse — nationwide,” the organization stated.
Beyond banning future marriages of minors, the legislation would provide legal recourse for those affected. Survivors of child marriage would have a pathway for legal support when their marriages are dissolved.
The bill now heads to the Texas Senate, where it must pass before being signed into law by the governor.