Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signs legislation to ban child marriage in Michigan

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation to prevent child marriage and protect minors.

The bills raise the minimum age for a person to consent to marriage to 18, according to Whitmer’s office.

“Keeping Michiganders safe and healthy is one of my top priorities, and today’s bipartisan bills will build on our efforts to protect young people—especially young women—from abuse,” said Whitmer. “As a county prosecutor, I went after those who used their power to prey on young people, and as governor, I am proud to sign legislation to strengthen protections for children and survivors into law. Together, we can make Michigan a safe, welcoming state where you can grow up and pursue your potential.”

Binthinkin,

Most days it’s hard to believe how much we don’t know about our own backwards ass country.

Lemminary,

Sometimes it’s funny

AeroLemming,

Now THAT is how you protect the children!

seitanic,

Good. Now raise it to 25.

Smacks,
@Smacks@lemmy.world avatar

It wasn’t illegal in the first place?!

TurtleJoe,
@TurtleJoe@lemmy.world avatar

Lol, it’s legal in the vast majority of states.

As of July 2023, ten states have banned underage marriages, with no exception: Delaware (2018),[3] New Jersey (2018),[4] Pennsylvania (2020),[5] Minnesota (2020),[6] Rhode Island (2021),[7] New York (2021),[8] Massachusetts (2022),[9] Vermont (2023),[10] Connecticut (2023)[11] and Michigan (2023).[12]

It’s especially super cool when parents marry their underage teenage daughter to her rapist, and then he becomes her legal guardian. I’ll let you guess which major political party overwhelmingly supports this.

nelly_man,

Not only is it legal in most states, it’s actively kept legal. It’s not just some old, irrelevant law that only exists because people haven’t noticed.

E.g., here’s an exchange from Missouri a few years ago where a state senator references an attempt to end child marriage.

youtu.be/9H6UJ-uCrgc?si=hihhxIuOJl7N9ror

TenderfootGungi,

Child marriages should be illegal federally with zero tolerance or exceptions.

hypna,

I was curious how often this actually happened and found this other article with some figures.

iosconews.com/…/article_3280a3fa-bc08-54ae-80e1-a…

“More than 5,400 minors were married in Michigan between 2000 and 2021, according to the nonprofit Unchained at Last. More than nine in 10 of the minors were girls, with 12 under the age of 16.”

So I guess it was mostly 16 and 17 year olds who now have to wait to 18.

Neon,

congrats to Michigan

Arthur_Leywin,

Good job Whitmer

paddirn,

Yay, but also… it’s 2023, why wasn’t this already the case?

krolden,
@krolden@lemmy.ml avatar

Remember when the FBI spooked a bunch of yokels to try and kidnap her.

Pixelle,

deleted_by_author

    •
    DiagnosedADHD,

    It said support was bipartisan, which if you know anything about Michigan conservatives and Whitmer its pretty shocking they’d agree on anything

    jscummy,

    Can we get a list of who voted against it? There’s usually a couple, with some contrived nonsensical explanation

    mrnotoriousman,

    They were probably talking on a more national level, where it isn't bipartisan

    SpezBroughtMeHere,

    I’m curious as to why she’s been in office for four years and only now thinks it’s an issue that needs addressed. I mean, finally, good. But shouldn’t something like that be day one? I guess roads were more important.

    ZombieMantis,
    @ZombieMantis@lemmy.world avatar

    The governor signs bills, she doesn’t write them, so that’s more of a question for the Michigan legislature. You’re still right, & this should’ve been done years ago, but at least it’s happening. Many states still allow it.

    SpezBroughtMeHere,

    My bad. I was under the impression that the governor could issue executive orders like what happen during covid. Probably reserved for things they deem important.

    dhork,

    In the US federal government (and I assume most, if not all, state governments), the job of the legislature is to create laws, and the job of the Executive is to enforce and execute them. (The job of the judiciary is to interpret the laws and apply them to individual cases through trials).

    Executive orders are directives issued by the President or Governor that clarify and explain how laws are to be enforced by the Federal agencies under the Executive Branch. They can’t create new law, as that is Congress’s job, but they can clarify how agencies are meant to enforce the law, and in certain cases Congress may explicitly grant certain powers to agencies, so the Executive can make orders on those matters that have the force of law as well.

    Chunk,

    Also she was probably just as surprised as the people in this thread that child marriage wasn’t illegal.

    reverendsteveii,

    Christian conservatives be like “Oh no, what transparently thin veil will I use to cover child sex slavery now?”

    xc2215x,

    A good move from Governor Whitmer.

    Treczoks,

    Now this will disappoint a lot of “religious conservatives”!

    arefx,

    They’re gonna try to kidnap her again

    reverendsteveii,

    Lol “We’ll just human traffic the people who try to stop us from human trafficking.”

    SayJess,
    @SayJess@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

    Let’s go Big Gretch!

    Pixelle,

    deleted_by_author

    •
    SayJess,
    @SayJess@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

    Hell yeah! Mine too!

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