California bans child marriage, a practice still legal in 32 US states
The law sets the marriage age at 18 and repeals prior exceptions after more than nine years of advocacy by survivors and lawmakers.
- On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1267, banning marriage for anyone under 18 in California with no exceptions. California becomes the 18th state to implement such a prohibition.
- Until recently, California was one of three states with no minimum age to wed, alongside New Mexico and Mississippi. For nearly 10 years, lawmakers and advocates pushed to close the parental consent loophole.
- Survivor Christina Sutton influenced the bill's advancement by testifying before Senate and Assembly Judiciary committees. Sutton stated, "I'm honored to stand by Assemblymember Pellerin, who refused to let survivors like me be ignored."
- The American Civil Liberties Union opposed the measure citing concerns about legal protections for minors, while Planned Parenthood stopped fighting the proposal this year following Trump administration efforts to defund clinics in 2025.
- Effective Jan. 1, 2027, the law repeals provisions allowing minors to marry or enter domestic partnerships. Pellerin emphasized, "Children are children, and marriage is an adult decision.
63 Articles
63 Articles
The new law, which will enter into force on 1 January 2027, provides that the minimum age for marriage will be 18 years in the state known as "Golden State." This news has been published via the news website Cedar News. For more breaking news and exclusive reports, visit our official website.
California Becomes The 18th U.S. State To Ban Child Marriage After Governor Signs New Bill
California has finally banned child marriage. After nearly a decade of campaigning by Unchained At Last along with survivors, grassroots organizations, and human rights organizations such as Equality Now, lawmakers have passed Bill AB-1267, establishing 18 as the minimum legal age of marriage without exception. The law closes a longstanding loophole that allowed children of...
California Bans Child Marriage as Courtney Stodden Looks On
California just erased a controversial exception in its marriage laws. On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a measure that bars anyone under 18 from marrying or entering a domestic partnership, even with parental consent, and approved a partnership bill allending children and adults to seek retraining orders against that trying...
The new law sets 18 years as the minimum age for marriage and will come into force on January 1, 2027.
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