(SACRAMENTO, CA.) — California will prohibit anyone under 18 from marrying beginning next year, ending a legal pathway that previously allowed minors to marry with court approval and parental or guardian consent.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1267 into law Wednesday. The law, authored by Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, D-Santa Cruz, establishes 18 as the minimum age for marriage in California with no exceptions. It also eliminates the ability of minors to establish domestic partnerships.
Newsom signed the bill in his office alongside advocate Courtney Stodden, a survivor of child marriage whose parents allowed her to marry 50-year-old actor Doug Hutchison when she was 16, according to the governor's office.
The governor's statement described the relationship as abusive and predatory and said Stodden has spoken publicly about chronic depression and suicide attempts since the marriage and divorce. The statement described Stodden as a national advocate against child exploitation.
“This is a long overdue measure to protect young Californians and minors. Today, California kids are safer than ever before,” Newsom said in the statement.
Pellerin's office described AB 1267 as the culmination of years of work by lawmakers, survivors and advocacy organizations. Pellerin's said California was one of three states without a statutory minimum marriage age, along with Mississippi and New Mexico.
“The heart of this effort has always been the survivors,” Pellerin said. “They told us what it means to be a child in a marriage you did not freely choose. They told us about coercion and abuse hidden behind the appearance of consent. They told us how difficult it can be as a minor to ask for help, find an attorney, leave home, or escape the very adults who are supposed to protect them. Because of them, California children are safer.”
“Governor Newsom’s action today made clear to me and to survivors of child marriage everywhere that we should never have been expected to carry this burden,” Stodden said in the governor's announcement. “I’m deeply grateful to Unchained At Last and every survivor who fought to make this possible — California is a victory, but I’m not stopping here. I will keep fighting until children are protected from marriage in all 50 states.”
Founder and executive director Fraidy Reiss of Unchained At Last, herself a survivor of forced marriage, also celebrated Newsom’s signature Wednesday. The national nonprofit advocates for an end to forced and child marriage in the United States.
"This is a historic victory for girls,” Reiss said in a statement to OpGov.News. “Our epic, nine-year battle to ban child marriage in California has ended in triumph, and we finally have eliminated a human rights abuse that destroys nearly every aspect of girls' lives. California girls are no longer for sale!"
The California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls co-sponsored AB 1267 with Unchained At Last.
Unchained At Last's efforts included meetings with legislators, legislative testimony, opinion articles, media interviews, email campaigns and demonstrations. Its campaign included a June 2023 protest at the California State Capitol, where survivors and advocates wore bridal gowns and chains. The organization also helped convene the California Coalition to End Child Marriage, a group that included national advocacy organizations, local organizations, survivors of forced and child marriage and other advocates.
AB 1267 passed the Senate unanimously before receiving final approval in the Assembly in August. Survivors of child marriage also testified in support of the legislation during legislative hearings.
Christina Sutton, who identified herself as a child-marriage survivor, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in June that she had been 16 years old when a nearly 22-year-old man began a sexual relationship with her and that she subsequently faced pressure to marry him.
“AB 1267 would have protected me,” Sutton said during her testimony, according to a transcript published by CalMatters' Digital Democracy.
Aritas Niem, another survivor who testified during an Assembly Judiciary Committee hearing in August, said she had been forced to marry the man she identified as her rapist at age 16 while pregnant, according to the hearing transcript.
Supporters of AB 1267 argued that allowing minors to marry can leave children legally tied to adults before reaching adulthood.
The California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls said children who marry can face increased risks of homelessness, financial dependency, abuse and reduced educational and economic opportunities.
CalMatters reported that under California law before AB 1267, sex between an adult and someone under 18 could constitute statutory rape when the two were not married. The article also explained that the 2018 law added safeguards requiring a judge and Family Court Services to interview the parties and a guardian to determine whether coercion, child abuse or trafficking was occurring.
Unchained At Last has argued that allowing minors to marry can create a legal conflict with laws governing sexual offenses and can make it more difficult for minors to escape abusive relationships. The nonprofit also reports that child marriage disproportionately affects girls. It cites research showing that 86 percent of children married in the United States between 2000 and 2018 were girls.
The nonprofit estimated that roughly 35,000 minors were married in California between 2000 and 2021. Pellerin's office cited that estimate in an August news release.
Unchained At Last said Wednesday in an official announcement that California's ban represents the 18th state where it has helped establish a marriage age of 18 with no exceptions. The organization said those states are home to more than 15.3 million girls.
California lawmakers previously attempted to establish an outright ban. A 2017 proposal was amended after opposition from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Children's Law Center and Planned Parenthood, and legislation enacted in 2018 instead added court safeguards for marriages involving minors, according to CalMatters.
Unchained At Last’s national campaign will continue in states where minors can still legally marry under certain circumstances.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2027, California law will recognize 18 as the minimum age to marry, without the parental-consent or judicial-approval exceptions that previously applied to minors.
If you’d like to add or correct anything in this report, feel free to reach out to me or leave a comment below. Submit Sacramento County tips and story ideas to Sarah Denos at sarahkdenos@gmail.com.
The Unchained At Last campaign included a June 2023 protest at the California State Capitol, where survivors and advocates wore bridal gowns and chains as they gathered outside the California State Capitol to protest child marriage. Photo credits/ Unchained At Last.
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