To the editor:

Now that we Kansans have codified marriage as involving “one man” and “one woman” only, I must ask: Does this spell the end of underage marriage? Is a boy, under age 18, a “man”? Is a girl, under age 18, a “woman”? The previous Kansas law used the term “opposite sex.” In law, wording matters — a lot.

Of course, parents, in the past, have been able to give their consent to an underage marriage. But this is a new law — a constitutional amendment, no less. It’s no leap to imagine that a judge can use the “man/woman” language to simply deny underage marriage. The precedent for age 18 as a barrier between minor and adult is everywhere: the right to vote, eligibility for the draft, capital punishment, etc. Can the “parental consent” scenario continue, legally?

Mike Boring,

Lawrence