In audio from a February event in Prince Edward County, US Rep. John McGuire defends his vote as a state senator against raising the legal marriage age in Virginia from 16 to 18.
Dogwood has obtained audio of Republican Virginia Congressman John McGuire from earlier this year in which he explains his 2024 vote against raising the marriage age to 18.
McGuire, who represents Virginia’s 5th congressional district, was the lone vote in the Virginia Senate against a bill to raise the legal marriage age in Virginia from 16 to 18. It passed out of the House of Delegates in a 57-40 vote. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin ultimately signed it into law.
Prior to the law changing, Virginia allowed children 16 and older to marry if a judge approved and emancipated the minor involved.
American Bridge 21st Century, a Democratic research group, shared audio with Dogwood from a February event in Prince Edward County where McGuire was asked about the rationale behind his vote against raising the legal marriage age.
“We need more families,” McGuire said. “If a young man and a young girl get pregnant, they need to have a marriage.”
Dogwood shared the audio with McGuire’s office in an email seeking comment for this story. McGuire’s communications director, Brittany Slaughter, told Dogwood in an email, “The Congressman has no comment at this time.”
Virginia was the 12th state in the US to ban child marriage, but five more states have since banned it.
Today, child marriage is legal in 33 states, according to Unchained At Last, a nonprofit dedicated to ending child marriage.
