I don't think it's stated often enough a big part of "backlash politics" isn't about a backlash to the Kenyan Muslim president, but a backlash to age of
consent laws and similar.
A bipartisan bill that would outlaw all child marriages in Missouri has run into resistance from Republicans in the Missouri House that could prevent it from becoming law.
“Why is the government getting involved in people’s lives like this?” Van Schoiak said. “What purpose do we have in deciding that a couple who are 16 or 17 years old, their parents say, you know, ‘you guys love each other, go ahead and get married, you have my permission.’ Why would we stop that?”
Whatever one thinks about 17-year-olds marrying each other, that's a bit of deflection about what this is really about.
The legislation is personal for Rehder, who was married at age 15 to her 21-year-old boyfriend in 1984. A year earlier, her sister, at age 16, married her 39-year-old drug dealer, she has said.
