California bans child marriage after 9-year fight to outlaw the practice
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.
Story by Lynn La and Nadia Lathan, CalMatters
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a measure to ban anyone from marrying anyone under the age of 18, making California the 18th state to do so in a decade-long nationwide push to outlaw the practice. Advocates and survivors of forced marriages cheered its passage, saying they were “deeply grateful” the governor signed it.
“This is a long overdue measure to protect young Californians and minors. Today, California kids are safer than ever before,” Newsom said Wednesday in a written statement.
Daylight San Diego
Until recently, California was one of only three states — along with New Mexico and Mississippi — with no minimum age to wed. A child could marry as long as they had parental consent and a judge’s approval. But advocates against the practice argue that children cannot fully consent to marriage, and that forcing them into one is a form of abuse. Because the age of consent in California is 18, advocates say marriage between an adult and a child is a loophole that implicitly legalizes statutory rape.
The law has been a long time coming: Nearly 10 years ago, state lawmakers introduced legislation that would have made California the first state to pass an absolute ban on marriages for those younger than 18. But after facing opposition from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Children’s Law Center and Planned Parenthood, legislators watered down the measure, citing concerns over how a ban could restrict a child’s reproductive freedom and ability to make healthcare decisions.
When it was signed into law in 2018, it only required a judge and Family Court Services to interview parties and guardians to rule out coercion, child abuse and trafficking. Advocates continued to push for an absolute ban and the Legislature in 2023 and 2024 again introduced similar bills. Both proposals died in committee.
Planned Parenthood, an influential group in California politics and a longtime opponent to child marriage bans, stopped fighting the proposal for the first time this year.
“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,” said Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, a Santa Cruz Democrat and one of the bill’s authors, during the Assembly floor vote in August. “Let us be the legislature that finishes this work. … Children are children, and marriage is an adult decision.”
The American Civil Liberties Union opposed the bill saying that it would remove “the critical benefits and legal protections that marriage can provide to minors.” Planned Parenthood did not take an official stance on the bill.
In a statement to CalMatters, spokesperson Shelby McMichael said the organization was focused on other issues following moves by the Trump administration in 2025 to defund clinics across the country.
But a report by the International Center for Research on Women found that teenage girls who are married are more likely to live in poverty, more likely to drop out of high school and more likely to develop diabetes or cancer.
This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.
