Marriage law has loophole

Opinion

Discussion

August 1, 2010

By BURTON SPEAKMAN Glasgow Daily Times The Glasgow Daily Times Sun Aug 01, 2010, 03:24 PM CDT

GLASGOW — Typically when people complain about the law, its because it’s too open to interpretation — it isn’t clear enough.

Sometimes though the problem is just the opposite and a section of the state’s marriage law fits squarely into that category.

Sometimes in this job, I still hear things that surprise me. Last week I found out a child who is male or female in the event they are pregnant or have impregnated someone can apply to a district judge for the right to marry, without the consent, and even over the objection, of their parents.

Typically under Kentucky law those under the age of 16 are forbidden to get married, while those 16 or 17 need the permission of their parents to marry. The state law clearly stated that in the event of pregnancy the male or female may apply to a district judge for the right to marry. There is a fee of $5 for the application and total court costs in Barren County are $26.

The rigidness of this law allowing the judge to make a call that allows a child to marry, at any age they can become pregnant or impregnant someone, and become an adult seems foolhardy. At this age some children might consider pregnancy as a way to become emancipated and an opportunity to move away from a parent they consider to strict or overbearing.

The law also doesn’t state the mother must keep the child. This opens the opportunity for teens to get pregnant, become emancipated and then give up the child for adoption or have an abortion, divorce there newfound spouse but then be considered an adult and free from oversight. In the reverse, a boy 17 or under could simply leave their newfound family and be considered an adult.

Kentucky’s legal code is long, complex and in some cases outdated. This provision of the marriage law has not been updated since 1982 and it’s unclear when the pregnancy provision was added, but this much is clear, when teens become pregnant its seems better to ensure parental involvement instead of allowing a legal exemption so that children, who clearly don’t make the best decision, are suddenly allowed to make those decisions on their own.

This law seems to be from a time in Kentucky’s history that is best to be moved beyond and forgotten.

The court and social services system could serve as a safeguard to ensure that young mothers and fathers don’t subject their children to abusive grandparents because they aren’t considered adult. There should not be an easy out opportunity to these children. It’s important particulary when these youth are under the age of 16 that their parents be involved in decisions and help guide them to better decisions with hopefully some assistance from social work, church programs and other available resources.

Otherwise, we can end up with two teens married with a baby, living on salaries from working in fast food restaurants with no education simply because they became pregnant, got married and were allowed an easy way out of parental supervision.

Burton Speakman is news editor for the Daily Times. He can be reached by e-mail at bspeakman@glasgowdailytimes.com.

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