PIERRE, S.D.(KXLG)- Currently, in South Dakota law, if you have a notarized statement of consent to marry from one parent or legal guardian, you can marry at 16 years old. South Dakota Representative Democrat Kayden Whittman introduced a bill Monday to increase the age to 18.
However, House Bill 1154 was deferred to the 41st day and was killed in the House State Affairs committee with a vote of 8 – 5.
According to the South Dakota Department of Health data, 838 minors married in the state between 2000 and 2020. 81% of those marriages were young girls who wed adult men.
Representative Will Mortenson is the Chair of the House State Affairs Committee, and Watertown Representative/Speak of the House Hugh Bartels is also on the committee.
Representative Whittman represents District 15 of Minnehaha County.
Yvonne Tayler with the South Dakota Advocacy Network for Women supported the bill, saying, “It’s purely a matter of common sense. You won’t let these folks legally have a beer, but you would let them enter into a marriage.”
Norman Woods with Family Voice Action spoke in opposition to the bill.
Woods spoke of an example situation of a 19-year-old and 17-year-old dealing with pregnancy and wanting to commit to each other to raise the child together.
Whittman, as the prime sponsor, gave a rebuttal.
Whittman continued, “God help me. If I had married the person that I thought I loved when I was 16.”
If an individual under the age of 18 is married, they are automatically emancipated, and essentially, the parents relinquish their “parental rights.”
Majority Whip Representative Republican Gary Cammack of District 29 in Meade County.
Cammack continues he has personal experience.
Representative Republican Jon Hansen of District 25 in Minnehaha/Moody County made a substitute motion to defer the bill to the 41st day, approved by an 8 to 5 vote.