The law against child marriage was pushed through by the Liberal Party, the Danish People's Party and the Social Democrats. The left-wing parties were highly critical of the law, arguing that previous legislation provided adequate protection for minors.
"What on earth is wrong with parents accepting that their 17-year-old daughter is marrying her 20-year-old boyfriend due to pregnancy?" Marianne Jelved of the Danish Social Liberal Party said during a parliamentary debate, as quoted by the Danish tabloid newspaper Extra Bladet.
Criticism of the law was also expressed by the Danish Children's Council and the Danish Lawyers Association, which both suggested that minors were adequately protected by existing regulations and ventured that amendments may prove counterproductive, since the authorities would be unable to take children's interests into account.
However, Children's Minister Mai Mercado shrugged off the criticism by making it clear that marriage has traditionally been reserved for people above the age of majority and it shall remain this way.
Other Nordic states have been following suit or are considering doing so. In 2014, Sweden abolished its exemption for people under 18 to consummate marriage. In Finland, the Justice Ministry requires "special reasons" when permitting teens to marry. Recently, though, the Justice Ministry embarked on a project to investigate whether the procedures related to marriages with minors should be reviewed.