Married at 15: She advocates Child Marriage Ban in Oklahoma
Source: http://www.readfrontier.org
Samantha Butler wasn’t smiling in her wedding photos. At just 15 years old and pregnant, she says family members pressured her to marry the 25-year-old father of her child in 2010. The wedding party traveled 230 miles from Oklahoma City to Jasper County, Missouri, where it was legal for a 15-year-old to marry with parental consent.
On her wedding day, Butler remembers uncomfortable stares at the county courthouse—but no one questioned what was happening.
“So there’s this fresh, young girl standing here big and pregnant next to this grown adult man,” Butler said. “It was funny looks, but nobody said anything.”
Since then, Missouri has raised its minimum marriage age to 16. Oklahoma, however, still allows minors under 16 to marry with a judge’s approval in cases of pregnancy or paternity lawsuits—without any minimum age requirement.
Now, Butler is advocating for change. She wants Oklahoma to ban child marriage. Two bills introduced this year aim to outlaw or limit marriage under 18, but similar efforts have failed before. Oklahoma, which has had a near-total abortion ban since 2022, has yet to pass laws preventing young pregnant girls from marrying.
Read more of the story here: https://childreninfobank.com/safebank/wed-at-age-15-she-wants-oklahoma-to-ban-child-marriage/
Image Source: http://www.readfrontier.org
