Ohio advocates, lawmakers plan to eliminate child marriage, ensure only adults can marry

Ohio state senators are pushing bipartisan legislation to prohibit marriage for anyone younger than 18 years old.

Data from the Ohio Department of Health, analyzed by Unchained at Last, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending forced and child marriage in the United States, revealed that between 2000 and 2024, 5,062 minors got married. Now, proposed legislation, Senate Bill 341, would repeal a state law that allows 17-year-olds to marry in the Buckeye State.

Lawmakers presented the perspectives of domestic violence advocates and women who married before they turned 18 years old during a news conference this week. During the news conference, Stephanie Lowry said she was forced to marry a 19-year-old man in 2001, right after she turned 16 years old, Cleveland.com reported.

“I just lost my father to brain cancer. I was a grieving teenager in a strict, cult-like religious environment. My mother was overwhelmed and did not want the responsibility of caring for a child who was struggling. Marriage became a solution, not for me, but for her,” she said, per the outlet.

Under certain conditions, Ohio law permits 17-year-olds to marry.

Advocates said that classified child marriage as a “legal trap” because it makes it challenging to get help, including gaining access to domestic violence shelters, retaining an attorney, or bringing legal action in their own name, in case something bad happens.

“Marriage before 18, including at 17, destroys almost every aspect of a girl’s life. Her health, her education, her economic opportunities, her physical safety,” Fraidy Reiss, a forced marriage survivor and executive director of Unchained at Last, said, per Cleveland.com.

Unchained at Last, as well as state Sens. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus, and Louis W. Blessing, III, R-Colerain Township, worked on SB 341.

“This system has led to disastrous results, where 70% to 80% of these marriages end in divorce,” DeMora said in a press release. “All of these problems go away when we simply require both people to be adults when they get married. If the kids truly love each other, then surely waiting a year or two to make the most important decision of their lives is not too big a burden.”

Another legislation, House Bill 511, passed by both the state House and Senate, but not yet signed by Gov. Mike DeWine, would allow 17-year-olds to get married with court consent if they meet certain criteria, such as receiving marriage counseling, going through a 14-day waiting period, and proving that the age difference between the two people is no more than four years.

“I didn’t survive because the system worked. I survived despite it. Child marriage made my life harder than it ever needed to be. It removed the choices at the exact moment I needed protection the most,” Lowry told Cleveland.com. “No child should have to be as resilient as I was to reach adulthood.”

Senate President Rob McColley told Cleveland.com on Wednesday that he doesn’t see why anybody among the lawmakers would oppose passing Senate Bill 341.

“I think most people would be surprised to learn that you could consent to a marriage before the age of 18. So, we’ll certainly take a serious look at it and probably pass it,” he told the outlet.