Wyoming Republicans under fire for objecting to ban on marriage for kids under age 16

WASHINGTON (TND) — The Wyoming Republican party issued an “action alert” to members, especially those serving in the state legislature, warning them about “concerns” it had concerning a new piece of legislation that seeks to ban marriage for kids under 16.

The bill – HB0007 – seeks to change several aspects of state law concerning marriage, including raising the minimum marriageable age to 18 and codifying that any persons aged 16 or 17 seeking to be married will require verbal or written consent of a parent or guardian. The bill would also immediately void all marriages that involve a person currently under the age of 16.

After the bill passed its first state senate floor vote Thursday, the Wyoming GOP sent a mass email to members, which in part reads, “This bill may seem harmless, but there are concerns about constitutional rights that you need to form your own opinions about.”

Note that here when the Wyoming GOP says “constitutional rights” it is referring to the state constitution.

The email, which contains analysis by Capitol Watch for Wyoming Families, a pro-life and pro-traditional marriage legislation watchdog, argues that preventing children younger than 16 from marrying violates their rights to raise children together should a girl become pregnant before the proposed legal marrying age.

Marriage is the only institution in Wyoming Statute designed to keep a child's father and mother living under the same roof and cooperating in the raising of any children that they, together, conceive,” Capitol Watch writes in its analysis. “Since young men and women may be physically capable of begetting and bearing children prior to the age of 16, marriage MUST remain open to them for the sake of those children.

The state GOP and Capitol Watch also essentially argue that HB0007 would violate the unborn children’s equal rights protection as they have the right to be raised by married parents.

This stance received pushback and criticism from Republicans in the legislature. State Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, R-Cheyenne, the bill’s sponsor, called the arguments made in the email “audacious.”

I think it’s audacious for the Republican Party (leadership) to suggest that as soon as you can give birth to a child you should be allowed to get married,” Zwonitzer told the Cowboy State Daily Friday.

He also specifically pushed back against the child-rearing arguments put forth by the GOP and Capitol Watch, condemning the groups for supporting the ideas of child brides as well as the clear violation of child protection laws their positions reflect. “There are 12- and 13-year-olds in the country who wind up with pregnancies, and we certainly don’t want them to be able to get married, in my opinion,” he said. “You don’t want a 30-year-old who impregnates a 12-year-old to be able to marry them and get around all of our other child protection laws I find that argument disingenuous.”