Posted on 11/23/2005 6:53:00 AM PST by twippo
When Brandon Balch's 13-year-old daughter got married in Georgia, he wasn't there to give her away.
The Boynton Beach man didn't even know about his daughter's union to a 14-year-old boy until after they got married, a license from a Georgia judge in hand.
Georgia law allows minors to marry without parental consent if the bride-to-be is pregnant. A similar statue in Florida gives a judge discretion to issue a marriage license to minors without parental consent if the couple is expecting a child.
''I was never informed of the marriage. I didn't consent, much less know about it,'' said Balch, whose daughter was allowed to get married after showing the Georgia judge proof that she was pregnant.
Balch and his sister, Sharon Cline of Weston, have spent the last 18 months writing letters to lawmakers in both states urging them for tougher requirements before minors can wed.
(Excerpt) Read more at miami.com ...
So now if she wanted to get her ears pierced does she need permission from her father, her husband, both or neither?
How did they get to Georgia? Neither of them is old enough to drive.
Just last week, I happened to read about someone's plans for a bronze statute.
Dumb.
Of course, she doesn't have to have anyone's permission to get an abortion.
How many hours does it take to get to Georgia? Who drove them? Why weren't the kids' parents concerned with them being missing for all that time? And the ever observant parents wonder how their daughters got pg.
The boy got this man's daughter pregnant and decided to marry her. What else is the dad to do unless he wants her to have an abortion?
In another era, an irate father would have chased him down with the old 12 gauge, dragged him to a church and forced him to marry his daughter.
Question: If these two get divorced will they still be cousins. This after all Georgia? ;)
In that era that you reference, at least it is the girl's family that makes the decision. A 14 y/o boy is nowhere near emotionally, intellectually, or otherwise mature enough to make a decision to marry someone. A 13 y/o girl lacks the maturity or capacity to make this decision. Any government institution that takes decision-making away from the parents of these kids (whether that be legislature, courts, or any other official) is intruding into the rights of the families.
There are several options other than abortion available to the girl and her parents that do not include compounding this mistake by entering a doomed marriage. The girl could have the baby and give it up for adoption; the girl could keep the baby and complete school with her parents helping her with the responsibilities of raising the baby.
What happens in two years when these kids decide to break up? At that point neither of them will have the legal capacity enter into a contract with a divorce lawyer to represent them.
Of course in another era the 14 year old could have started working to provide for his new family as well... something that he can't readily do today.
That still does not change the fact that the 14 y/o is the legal and biological father of the child, and he possesses all the rights and responsibilities appertaining. The fact that he willingly married her rather than run off demonstrates that at least he's man enough to own up to what he's done.
Even if they do "break up" down the road (common for married couples of any age), he is still not relieved of his rights and responsibilities as the father.
If the two kids do not both freely consent to adoption, then the proper thing would be for them both to raise the child with the help and support of their parents (his and hers).
No it doesn't demonstrate that he's "man enough" for anything. It just demonstrates that at this point in time that is what he decided to do for whatever reason.
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