(WWJ) It is no longer illegal for unmarried couples to live together in Michigan.
On Tuesday, it was announced that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed legislation that changes the law regarding cohabitation in the state.
Senate Bill 56, sponsored by state Senator Stephanie Chang, amends the Michigan Penal Code to remove a provision that prohibits a man and woman who are not married to each other from "lewdly and lasciviously associating and cohabitating together."
Under the old law, those found to be in violation could face a penalty of up to a year in prison.
Chang was among those who argued that not only was the nearly century-old provision outdated, but that the change could help reduce the taxpayer burden for some Michiganders.
“It's time to bring Michigan into the current century by repealing the outdated cohabitation prohibition. It simply should not be a crime for an unmarried man and woman to live together,” said Chang (D-Detroit). “By signing this bill today, Governor Whitmer will make it so that more unmarried Michiganders in relationships are on equal footing with others in other states when it comes to their tax status.”
While Whitmer's office noted that this bill did pass the legislature with bipartisan support, there were some exceptions — with a few Republicans actually arguing against the change.
Sen. Ed McBroom from the Upper Peninsula was among those who voted against the bill in the Senate back in April.
“Government exists to provide for the general welfare by protecting people from evil and danger and by promoting the common good. The repeal of this law is not a promotion of the common good," argued McBroom, adding that cohabitation has been consistently shown to “decrease the resilience and permanence of marriage and to decrease the potential that marriage happens at all.”
“Meanwhile, marriage has been consistently shown to be the gold standard by which a stable society is maintained,” he said.
To be clear, the law prohibiting unmarried cohabitation in the state was not being routinely enforced prior to this change, and it was unclear when that last time was the anyone was charged under to provision.
Meanwhile, another provision in the law that prohibits any individual, married or unmarried, from "engaging in open and gross lewdness and lascivious behavior," remains unchanged.
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