California bans child marriage after nearly a decade of advocacy

The change follows years of advocacy by survivors, lawmakers and organizations seeking to eliminate child marriage in the state.

Minimum marriage age set at 18

Before the new law, California allowed people under 18 to seek permission from a court to marry or enter a domestic partnership. A minor generally had to obtain written consent from a parent or legal guardian, and the court was required to consider whether coercion or undue influence was involved.

California was unusual because state law did not establish a specific statutory minimum marriage age.

The California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls said California had been one of only three states without such a minimum. The commission estimates that approximately 35,000 minors married in California between 2000 and 2021, most of them girls. CA Commission on Women and Girls

AB 1267 repeals the provisions that permitted minors to marry with parental and judicial approval and instead sets the minimum age at 18. Governor of California

A fight that lasted nearly a decade

The legislation was sponsored by Unchained At Last and the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls.

Unchained At Last says it spent nine years campaigning for California to eliminate child marriage. The organization described the governor’s signature as the culmination of that effort and said the new law will take effect in January. Unchained At Last

The California Commission described the campaign as a nearly 10-year push. CA Commission on Women and Girls

Assemblymember Gail Pellerin of Santa Cruz authored the legislation.

Pellerin said survivors played a central role in the effort, particularly by describing how minors in marriages can face coercion, abuse and significant obstacles when trying to obtain legal help or leave a relationship. Governor of California

Survivor advocacy helped drive the change

Newsom signed the bill alongside advocate Courtney Stodden, who has publicly discussed being married at age 16 to actor Doug Hutchison, who was 50 at the time.

Stodden has since become an advocate against child marriage and child exploitation.

In the governor’s announcement, Stodden credited survivors and Unchained At Last with helping bring about the change in California. Governor of California

Newsom called the measure overdue and said it was intended to strengthen protections for young Californians. Governor of California

California joins a growing number of states

With the new law, California joins a growing group of states that prohibit marriage before age 18 without exceptions.

The governor’s office said 17 states had already enacted complete child-marriage bans before California acted. California therefore becomes the 18th state with such a prohibition. Governor of California

The change is significant because California is the nation’s most populous state and had previously maintained one of the country’s more permissive legal frameworks for marriages involving minors.

What changes under the new law

Once the law takes effect, Californians under 18 will no longer be able to obtain a marriage license or establish a domestic partnership through parental consent and court approval.

The legal standard will instead be straightforward: 18 will be the minimum age.

Supporters argue that establishing a firm age threshold removes ambiguity and eliminates circumstances in which minors could be pressured into marriages they were not fully able to choose or leave.

For California, the September 30 signing closes a debate that advocates had pursued for nearly a decade and brings the state into line with the growing national movement to establish 18 as the minimum age for marriage.

California Judicial Branch — Rules governing minors seeking permission to marry under prior law
https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/five/rule5_448

California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls — California bans child marriage
https://women.ca.gov/ab-1267-banning-child-marriage/

Unchained At Last — Nine-year campaign and enactment
https://unchainedatlast.org/we-banned-child-marriage-in-ca/

For Arizona Asians, I would use the headline above rather than wording such as “a battle that should never have taken so long.” That sentiment can be attributed to advocates, but the news headline itself is stronger and more neutral when it simply states what California changed and how long the campaign lasted.