Jefferson City, Missouri - A Missouri state senator has come under fire for defending child marriage while opposing access to gender-affirming case for transgender youth.

Senator Mike Moon sparked outrage on Tuesday during a House General Laws Committee hearing on SB 843, known as the "Missouri Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act," a bill he introduced that would ban gender-affirming care for minors in the Show Me State.

Democratic state Representative Peter Meredith questioned Moon on the floor about his past support for allowing children to be married. He was referring to the Republican legislator's opposition to a law passed in 2018 which raised the marriage age in Missouri from 15 to 16 and required parental permission for teens to wed.

"I've heard you talk about parents' rights to raise their kids how they want. In fact, I just double checked. You voted no on making it illegal for kids to be married to adults at the age of 12," Meredith said. "If their parents consented to it, you said actually, that should be the law because it's the parents right and the kids right to decide what's best for them. To be raped by an adult."

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Moon interrupted to defend his stance on child marriage, saying, "Do you know any kids who have been married at age 12? I do. And guess what? They're still married."

The disgraced state senator later took to Twitter to double down on his support for minors getting married.

"Something that is often missing is the back story. With regard to my answer, I did not discuss the details: a 12 year old impregnated a minor of similar age. With consent of the parents, they married… and are still married today," he posted.

Nevertheless, opponents of SB 843 have pointed out that Moon's claim the bill is designed to protect children falls flat considering his voting history on child marriage.

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"The fact that Missouri Senator Mike Moon said that 12 year olds can be married off to adults just sickens me," Jess Piper, executive director of Blue Missouri, tweeted. "My daughter is nearly 11 and still plays with Barbies and her baby dolls."

"We are living in a hellscape in Missouri under a GOP supermajority," she added.