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BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Legislation setting a minimum age for marriage in Idaho failed in the House.
Lawmakers voted 39-28 on Thursday to kill the bill that would have set the minimum age for marriage at 16.
It also would have required parents to consent to the marriage and a judge to give the OK for 16- and 17-year-olds to get married.
Lawmakers who favored the legislation said it would prevent the marriages of girls as young as 12 or 13 to adult men and remove Idaho as a state that institutionalizes the rape of young girls.
Lawmakers opposed to the legislation argued that the government shouldn't get involved in marriage.
Those opposed also said the legislation went too far by aligning with Idaho's statutory rape law that makes illegal intercourse between someone who is older by three years or more than a 16- or 17-year-old.
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