Maine became the fourteenth state to ban child marriage this week after Governor Janet Mills, a Democrat, allowed a bill banning the practice to become law without her signature.
Why It Matters
Child marriage remains legal in most states, many of which allow children as young as 15 or 16 years old to get married. A handful of states have no age requirements at all for marriage. About 300,000 children have gotten married since 2000, according to Unchained at Last, an organization that fights for laws banning child marriage.
Advocates to end child marriage say that married minors are left vulnerable on multiple fronts. Married minors lack the legal rights of an adult to obtain a lawyer and fight the marriage if they do not want to get married, advocates say, noting they also are more likely to face lifelong challenges surrounding poverty and abuse.
What to Know
Maine’s ban on child marriage means the practice is now banned in the entirety of New England, ending what advocates view as a potential child marriage haven. New Hampshire’s law against child marriage kicked in at the beginning of the year, though some in the Granite State are seeking to add an exemption to the ban.
Fraidy Reiss, Unchained at Last’s founder and executive director, told Newsweek the ban is a “huge victory” but said it was “disappointing” Mills did not sign the law herself.
In Maine, bills passed by the State House and State Senate become law if a governor does not sign or veto it for 10 days. Mills has not said why she did not sign the bill into law.
Newsweek reached out to Mills’ office for comment via email.
“This is a huge victory for girls because child marriage is a human rights abuse that destroys almost every aspect of girls’ lives and creates a nightmarish legal trap because of their limited legal rights,” Reiss said via phone interview on Tuesday. “It’s about time that Maine said, ‘We’re going to ban this terrible, archaic, sexist practice.'”
Here is a look at the states where child marriage remains legal in the U.S.
What People Are Saying
Reiss told Newsweek: “You don’t get newfound wisdom and maturity on your eighteenth birthday magically, and the certain ability to choose a life partner. That’s not what this is about. What you do get on your eighteenth birthday, the reason 18 is so important, is that it’s the age of adulthood. That’s the age at which you get the crucial rights you need to navigate a contract as serious as marriage. Before the age of 18, if your parents are planning an unwanted marriage for you, there’s almost nothing you can do to protect yourself.”
Maine State Representative Laura Supica said during a public hearing, according to the Portland Press Herald: “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.”
What Happens Next
Several other states are considering laws to end child marriage. These states include Missouri and Oregon, both of which have seen legislation to ban the practice advance in 2025.
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