ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) – Stung by a notorious case of a pregnant woman’s marriage to a 15-year-old boy, Georgia’s House voted Thursday to plug a loophole that allows couples to get married regardless of age or parental consent if there is a pregnancy.

The new proposal bars teens under 16 from marrying unless a juvenile court is convinced otherwise, but allows pregnant 16- or 17-year-olds to marry with parental consent or a judge’s order. The measure passed by a 142-27 vote and moves to the Senate.

“This is a sad situation that needs to be corrected,” said the measure’s sponsor, Republican Representative Bobby Franklin, who added it would help right the “embarrassment” Georgia suffered last year.

He was referring to the case of 37-year-old Lisa Lynnette Clark, who was charged with child molestation for allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old friend of her teenage son. Just days before her arrest in November, she married the boy under a 1962 law that raised the minimum marrying age in Georgia from 14 to 16, but also made an exception in the case of pregnancy.

But amending the marriage laws is a touchy subject to some lawmakers, who argued that the changes might tear apart potential couples who would otherwise be wed.

State Representative Randal Mangham said he was concerned that two 15-year-olds would not be able to marry, even if the female was pregnant and the couple had their parents’ consent.

Why, Mangham asked, should the state deny them the option “to do formally what they’ve done informally as adults”? He added: “Are you trying to make an illegitimate child?”

Months before Clark’s wedding made national news, Sharon Cline and her brother Brandon Balch sent a flurry of e-mails to Georgia lawmakers to inform them of the marriage policy that had been unknown to many.

Balch, who is from Florida, told lawmakers last month that his ex-wife and his daughter crossed the Alabama border into Georgia with a pregnancy test in hand so the 13-year-old daughter could get married.

In a week, Balch’s ex-wife would have faced a child custody hearing. But the moment the couple’s child was married, she was legally emancipated from her parents.

Balch and Cline have told their story to numerous lawmakers in the hopes of changing the state’s law.

“I don’t think we could have asked for anything better,” Cline said after the bill passed. “I’m shocked. It’s amazing that this happened.”