(The Center Square) — Maine has become the latest state to outlaw child marriage, a practice child welfare advocates say often involves coercing vulnerable young girls into unwanted unions.
A bill approved by the state Legislature raising the legal wedding age from 17 to 18 became law Monday without Gov. Janet Mills’ signature. The law will be enacted 90 days after the legislative session ends.
Backers of the plan say child marriage often involves coercion, even where parental consent is granted, with a girl forced to marry against her will.
“Too many children are forced into marriages, and while even those over 18 years of age can be forced, the difference is that when they are able to flee, they have greater access to services to help them sufficiently escape an abuser,” state Rep. Laura Supica, D-Bangor, said in testimony. “By raising the age requirement from 17 to 18 years old to marry, we can eliminate this danger.”
Maine increased the marriage age to 16 in 2020, and lawmakers approved a plan raising the age to 17 three years later. Before 2020, the state allowed a parent to marry off a child of any age.
But Unchained at Last, a New Jersey-based advocacy group that seeks to end child marriage, says 79% of the minors who married in Maine before the 2023 law change were aged 17, so the changes only protected only 21% of those impacted by child marriage.
“The new legislation closes the dangerous legal loopholes that allow parents or a judge to enter a 17-year-old into marriage without any input required from the teen, and without any real legal recourse for a teen who does not want to marry,” the group said in a statement. “Furthermore, child marriage creates a nightmarish legal trap that destroys nearly every aspect of an American girl’s life.”
Nationwide, more than 200,000 minors were married between 2000 and 2015, according to advocates who say the actual figure is likely higher. The U.S. Department of State has called marriage before 18 a “human rights abuse” and has urged states to update their laws.
To date, 13 states — including Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island — have passed legislation approving the 18-year-old marriage requirement, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Another 18 states do not set any absolute minimum, and seven states allow for a pregnancy to lower the minimum age.
The practice is more common in southern states, according to the Pew Research Center. California and Nevada have high numbers of child marriages as well.
Those who have opposed legislation in other states that would forbid minors from marrying cite religious tradition and parental rights among their reasons.
