Gov. Janet Mills is letting a Bangor Democrat’s proposal to prevent people under the age of 18 from getting married become law without her signature.
The Legislature and Mills, a Democrat, agreed in 2023 to raise the minimum marriage age from 16 to 17. A 17-year-old child in Maine has been allowed to marry with the written consent of their parents, guardians or legal custodians, with a probate judge allowed to also give consent in the absence of those people.
Rep. Laura Supica, D-Bangor, put forward this year’s measure that no longer allows 17-year-olds to get marriage licenses. Supica, with support from advocates and adults who testified they were forced into marriages when younger, said allowing children “to enter into marriages just because their parents give their consent is dangerous.”
Mills decided Monday to let the bill become law without her signature at the conclusion of the 10-day window for her to take action on it after the House and Senate approved it. The law will take effect in 90 days. The governor’s office did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment on her decision.
“Too many children are forced into marriages,” Supica said in March, “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.”
Supica added Tuesday that her proposal “may not seem as important to some with everything happening right now, but it’s making a huge impact whether it’s signed or not.”
Opposition mostly came from Republicans, with arguments citing freedom of choice. Religious and cultural factors have also arisen during past debates on the issue. Maine is now the 14th state to ban child marriage, after New Hampshire joined all other New England states last year in outlawing it.
Marriages involving children are rare in Maine. State data showed 58 Maine children got married between 2014 and 2018, with four marriages between children. Ten marriages featured age gaps greater than five years, and seven of them were between people born outside the U.S., where cultural norms may differ on child marriage.
The House passed Supica’s bill 93-52 in April before the Senate enacted it in a 19-11 vote. GOP representatives made up the House opposition, while the Senate saw Democratic opposition from Sens. Donna Bailey of Saco and Craig Hickman of Winthrop. Republicans who supported it were Sens. Rick Bennett of Oxford, Dick Bradstreet of Vassalboro, Bruce Bickford of Auburn and Assistant Senate Minority Leader Matt Harrington of Sanford.
It was “disappointing” Mills did not sign Supica’s bill, Fraidy Reiss, the founder of Unchained At Last, a nonprofit that seeks to end forced and child marriage in the U.S., said in a Tuesday interview. Reiss still called the new law a “huge victory” for girls in Maine and elsewhere.
“Child marriage, as we know, is a human rights abuse that destroys almost every aspect of an American girl’s life,” Reiss said.