Governor of Minnesota Signs Law Making Spousal Rape Illegal

(Reuters) – Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Thursday signed a law repealing the marital rape exception, which protected rapists from prosecution if they lived and had sex with the victim. .

Walz, a Democrat, signed the bill in St. Paul, saying that "the objectionable exception should never have been part of our criminal laws."

Legislation was approved 132-0 by lawmakers at state house and state Senate by a vote of 66-0 earlier this week.

A wave of marital rape laws was passed in the 1980s and 1990s, making it a crime in all 50 states, but gaps still existed in many states.

In Minnesota, the repealed statute protected a rapist if he was cohabiting and had a voluntary sexual relationship with the victim or if he was the victim's spouse. If the couple lived apart and one of them had applied for legal separation or dissolution of marriage, the law did not apply.

The representative of the State of Minnesota, Zack Stephenson, author of the legislation, said in a statement that the repeal of the "abominable law" was long overdue.

"It's a historic day. We are moving the Minnesota laws of the 19th century, "he said.