Wednesday afternoon, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson signed into law HB 1708, which bans child marriage in the state.
Before now, Arkansas law said 16-year-old girls and 17-year-old boys could get married with the consent of both parents. However, there was an exception. "In the case of pregnancy, courts could consent to marriage with no minimum threshold, no minimum at all," said Representative Vivian Flowers, the lead sponsor of the bill.
Flowers introduced the legislation to raise the age to 17 no matter the circumstance. She said, "Those are things that we can't fathom, but a lot of the things we can't fathom do happen. And when we find out that they happen, it's our responsibility to correct the law where it might promote that kind of criminal behavior."
Child marriage happens more than you think.
