California Bans Marriage for Anyone Under 18

(California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Photo by The Washinton Times)

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a law banning child marriage in the state by removing the old rule that allowed it if a parent agreed.

Until January 1, a minor could get a marriage license with a court order and the consent of at least one parent or guardian.

Assembly Bill 1267 removes that provision and bars anyone under 18 from being issued a marriage license or entering a domestic partnership.

Newsom said the law is a long overdue step to protect young Californians and that California kids are safer than ever before.

Assemblymember Gail Pellerin said victims who pushed for the law spoke of coercion and abuse hidden behind the appearance of consent.

She said they described how hard it is for a minor to ask for help, find a lawyer, leave home or escape the very adults meant to protect them.

According to the anti-child marriage group Unchained At Last, about 9,000 minors get married in California each year, nearly all of them girls marrying adult men.

With this law, California joins Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, American Samoa, the District of Columbia and the US Virgin Islands in banning all minor marriage.

The group said all those bans were passed after 2017.

Puerto Rico also bars people under 18 from marrying, but because its age of majority is 21, minor marriage is technically still legal there.

Darcy Totten, executive director of the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, said California has finally joined many other states in banning child marriage with no exceptions or loopholes.

She said children, especially girls, will no longer face being exploited or forced into marriage or handed over to a predator who should have been prosecuted.