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Lawmakers Seek To Raise Legal Age For Marriage In North Carolina

Members of the Senate are sworn in during the opening session of the North Carolina General Assembly in Raleigh, N.C., Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

State lawmakers are advancing efforts to raise the legal age for marriage. North Carolina is one of two states in the country that still allow children as young as 14 to get married.

Bills currently in the state House and Senate would prevent anyone under the age of 18 from marrying.

Senate Bill 35 is being sponsored by Sen. Vickie Sawyer, a Republican from Mooresville. Sawyer has been working with the Tahirih Justice Center to change North Carolina's law.

The House bill is sponsored by Rep. Jason Staine, a Lincolnton Republican. Staine says he fears that North Carolina could become a regional destination for child marriages.

Current state law requires parental consent for minors to marry. Children as young as 14 can seek court approval to marry in cases involving pregnancy or raising a child.

According to a news release from the Justice Center, North Carolina is tied with Alaska for having the lowest legal marriage age. The Center says child marriage can be a factor in poverty, domestic violence, and sexual abuse.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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