New Hampshire may become the next state to ban child marriage after its state House of Representatives passed a bill that would raise the minimum age to 18.
Child marriage remains legal in the majority of states, with only 12 having laws making the practice illegal, though it remains rare for individuals under the age of 18 to get married.
Last week, New Hampshire lawmakers passed Senate Bill 359, which reads, "No person below the age of 18 years shall be capable of contracting a valid marriage, and all marriages contracted by such persons shall be null and void."
The bill now heads to Governor Chris Sununu's desk for him to either sign into law or veto. He previously signed a bill that raised the state's minimum age to get married to 16 years old. Before that, New Hampshire allowed anyone as young as 13 to get married, a statue Sununu called "unconscionable" at the time.
Newsweek reached out to Sununu's office for comment via email.
If Sununu signs the bill, it would leave Maine as the only state in the northeast of the United States that allows people younger than 18 to get married.
Here is an overview of child marriage laws in the United States
These 12 states have so far made child marriage illegal: Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
Delaware became the first state to make child marriage illegal in 2018, with other states following in recent years. Lawmakers in other states such as Missouri have also pushed for the end of child marriage in those states. Virginia became the latest state to ban child marriage last month.
Some states such as California and Oklahoma still allow anyone to get married regardless of age. While Mississippi and New Mexico have laws requiring people to be a certain age to get married, they also allow judges to overrule those laws in certain cases.
Most states currently have the minimum marrying age set to 16, although there are a handful of states that have raised it to 17, including Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon and Tennessee. In Kansas, people as young as 15 can get married.
New Hampshire State Representative Cassandra Levesque, a Democrat who has championed raising the minimum marriage age, celebrated the legislature passing the bill in a post to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, on Friday.
"Many, many people have worked with me to fight to End Child Marriage in NH. We have worked for years, researching, learning, listening, and advocating. I will be forever grateful for them. Thank you all, we could not have come this far without you," she wrote.
The bill was still met with opposition from some lawmakers in New Hampshire. It passed by a margin of 192-174, according to The New Hampshire Bulletin. Republican state Representative Jess Edwards said last week that a bill banning marriage for people under 18 would make abortion more appealing for young people.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
fairness meter
To Rate This Article
About the writer
Andrew Stanton is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in Maine. His role is reporting on U.S. politics and social issues. ... Read more
