A bill to end child marriages in South Dakota passes out of Senate committee

A bill which would end child marriage in South Dakota passed out of the Senate Judiciary committee Thursday via a 4-2 vote. The bill would remove language from South Dakota law currently on the books which would allow a child between the ages of 16 and 18 years old to get married if they have the consent of their parents. Should this bill become law it would become a class 1 misdemeanor to knowingly marry someone underage. Proponents argued mostly about how child marriages serve as a means to take part in human trafficking while opponents argue forced marriages are horrible, but its not the marriage themselves that is at issue. Rather the abusers who go through with them for nefarious reasons.