Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran is defending an exception to a proposed child marriage ban that would let some 16- and 17-year-olds get married if there's a pregnancy involved.

Corcoran said Thursday that if two high school students are dating and the girl becomes pregnant, the state shouldn't tell them they can't get married.

He used a hypothetical example of an 18-year-old being allowed to marry his pregnant 17-year-old girlfriend.

A Senate bill bans marriage of anyone under 18 with no exceptions. Corcoran said he doesn't support that. A bill ready for a House voted would ban child marriage except for 16- and 17-year olds if there's a pregnancy and neither is more than two years old than the other.

Florida law currently doesn't set a minimum age for marriage if there's a pregnancy.