The Georgia House passed a bill Tuesday preventing couples from marrying until they're at least 17 years old, sending the proposal to Gov. Brian Kemp.

The House voted 155-14 to give final approval to House Bill 228, which raises the marriage age from 16 to 17.

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If signed into law, Georgia would join about a dozen other states that require children to be at least 17 years old before they can marry, even with parental consent.

The bill also prevents 17-year-olds from marrying partners more than four years older than them, and a judge would have to free them from parental control.

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Chip Carter, a son of the late President and Mrs. Jimmy Carter, with longtime family caregiver and nanny, Mary Prince. "She's just family," Carter said. Plains, Georgia, July 2, 2025. (Courtesy of Chuck Williams)

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Rebecca Ramage-Tuttle, assistant director of the Statewide Independent Living Council of Georgia, says the the DOE rule change is “a slippery slope” for civil rights. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

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