By Rajwa Quasim
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed legislation banning child marriage in the state, closing a longstanding loophole that allowed children under 18 to marry with parental consent and approval from a judge.
“This is a long-overdue measure to protect young Californians and minors. Today, California kids are safer than ever before,” Newsom said.
Assembly Bill 1267 passed the California Legislature in August and was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 30. The law will take effect Jan. 1, 2027. California is now the 18th U.S. state to completely prohibit child marriage.
The bill was authored by Santa Cruz Assemblymember Gail Pellerin.
Newsom signed the bill in the presence of Courtney Stodden, a survivor who married Hollywood actor Doug Hutchison at 16. Hutchison was 50 at the time.
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Until now, California was one of only three states without a minimum age for marriage. The other two were Mississippi and New Mexico. The absence of a minimum age drew criticism from domestic and international human rights organizations, including Unchained At Last. In 2023, the U.N. Human Rights Committee called on the United States to prohibit marriage involving anyone under 18.
Pellerin said, “For more than nine years, legislators who came before us, colleagues serving today, survivors and advocates have worked to move California toward ending child marriage. AB 1267 is about one simple principle: Children belong in classrooms, playgrounds and with adults who are raising them — not attempting to marry them.”
With the support of Unchained At Last, the California Coalition to End Child Marriage was established, bringing together about 30 organizations and individuals, including survivors and advocacy groups. The coalition spent years raising awareness and lobbying for legislation to end child marriage in the state.
The legislation was sponsored by the California Commission on the Status of Women and Unchained At Last.
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Survivors also welcomed the bill. Sara Tasneem, a child marriage survivor who campaigned for the change, said, “Seeing this legislation finally cross the finish line after nine years of advocacy will bring tears of both joy and pain. Reliving our trauma year after year has been exhausting, but survivor advocates have poured their hearts and souls into this fight to ensure the next generation is protected from the harms of child marriage.”
Another survivor, Brittany Bee, said, “California has sent a clear message to the world today.”
According to Unchained At Last, nearly 315,000 children as young as 10 were married in the United States between 2000 and 2021, most of them girls who married adult men.
The effort to introduce a child marriage ban in California dates to 2017. Previous proposals faced opposition from groups concerned that an absolute ban could affect minors’ ability to make decisions about reproductive health care and other medical treatment. Advocates for a complete ban argued that such concerns involved time-sensitive medical decisions, while marriage itself was not time-sensitive.