House Fails To Advance Anti-Child Marriage Bill

Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Also Included In: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Article Date: 21 Dec 2010 - 1:00 PDT


On Thursday, the House rejected a Senate-approved bill (S 987) that would have funded grants for programs working to end child marriage, CQ HealthBeat reports. The bill also would have directed the Obama administration to develop and implement a multi-year initiative to combat child marriage in countries where it is most prevalent.

In the 241-166 vote, House members declined to suspend the rules and pass the bill. Suspension of the rules, an expedited procedure that limits debate, requires a two-thirds majority for approval. Nine Democrats and 157 Republicans voted against the motion, CQ HealthBeat reports.

Lawmakers who voted against the motion said they object to its cost, which the Congressional Budget Office estimated as $67 million over five years. Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), during floor comments on Dec. 15, said members should block the bill because it would spend millions of dollars without benefiting the U.S. Burton said, "I don't want anyone to think we aren't very sympathetic to the problem. We are," adding, "But the fiscal problems we face in this country right now are of paramount concern to all of us."

Experts say that marriages of young girls are not only nonconsensual but lead to serious health risks. Research has found that pregnancy and childbirth complications are the main causes of death among women ages 15 to 19 in developing countries. Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) cited such statistics as their reasons for co-sponsoring the Senate bill (Dumain, CQ HealthBeat, 12/16).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families.

© 2010 National Partnership for Women & Families. All rights reserved.

• Additional
• References
• Citations