The FFRF Action Fund is celebrating a significant victory for children’s rights and secular values in Oregon: The state has officially ended child marriage.
Senate Bill 548, which the FFRF Action Fund strongly supported, was signed into law yesterday after passing both legislative chambers. The new law raises the minimum age to marry in Oregon to 18 — with no exceptions — making it one of 15 states to completely outlaw the harmful and archaic practice of child marriage. The practice is often associated with certain religions and cults, with teenaged girls typically married off to much older men.
“This is a tremendous win for the children of Oregon, who deserve protection from coercive and often religiously motivated abuse disguised as marriage,” says Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF Action Fund president. “No minor should be forced into a lifelong legal contract that they aren’t even old enough to dissolve. This law affirms the basic principle that minors are not the property of parents, pastors or future spouses.”
Previously, Oregon law allowed minors to marry with parental consent — a loophole that often left young people, especially girls, vulnerable to forced marriages. In many cases, minors were trapped in abusive relationships that they were too young to escape legally, since they ironically cannot file for divorce until turning 18. FFRF Action Fund emphasized how this contradiction reflects outdated biblical thinking, where young girls are handed from father to husband as property.
“Child marriage is not a religious right — it’s a violation of human rights,” adds Gaylor. “We commend Oregon lawmakers for recognizing that religious tradition should never trump a child’s safety, freedom or future.”
The FFRF Action Fund thanks its members and allies in Oregon who mobilized to support SB 548 by contacting lawmakers, submitting testimony and demanding an end to child marriage in the state. With this action, Oregon takes a bold step toward protecting children from abuse and religious exploitation.
The Fund will continue to support similar efforts across the country to ensure that no child is subjected to this dangerous and coercive practice.
FFRF Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that develops and advocates for legislation, regulations and government programs to preserve the constitutional principle of separation between state and church. It also advocates for the rights and views of nonbelievers, endorses candidates for political office, and publicizes the views of elected officials concerning religious liberty issues. It is the legislative arm of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.