From the Associated Press, we learn that yesterday a West Virginia Senate committee rejected a bill that would have ended child marriages in West Virginia. From the article:

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A bill that would have prohibited minors from getting married in West Virginia was defeated Wednesday night in a legislative committee.
The Republican-dominated Senate Judiciary Committee rejected the bill on a 9-8 vote, a week after it passed the House of Delegates.
The vote came shortly after the bill’s main sponsor, Democratic Del. Kayla Young of Kanawha County, testified briefly before the committee. She said that since 2000 there have been more than 3,600 marriages in the state involving one or more children.
Currently, children can marry as young as 16 in West Virginia with parental consent. Anyone younger than that also must get a judge’s waiver.

Here’s Young’s tally sheet:

Senate Judiciary voted down HB3018, the bill to end Child Marriage in WV.

They first moved to table the bill without discussion, which failed, so they killed the bill instead.

For now, there will be no floor for the age of marriage in WV, endangering our kids. pic.twitter.com/KUG6KxtEHr

— Kayla Young (@kaylayoungforwv) March 9, 2023

(Click on the list to see how all of the committee’s senators voted.)

Among the senators who voted against the bill was Republican Patricia Rucker, who sits on the board of WV CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children). A special advocate, indeed.

By the way, yesterday was International Women’s Day.