California Outlaws Child Marriage as Governor Newsom Signs Long-Awaited Bill Into Law

California has become the latest US state to prohibit child marriage, after Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation requiring that anyone tying the knot in the state must be at least 18 years old. The new law takes effect on 1 January, closing a legal loophole that had allowed minors to wed with parental consent and judicial approval. The measure ends a practice that remains permissible in 32 other American states, making California the 18th state to ban it since 2018.

Newsom described the signing as a "long overdue measure to protect young Californians and minors." He was joined at the ceremony by Courtney Stodden, a former child bride who has become a prominent voice in the campaign to end the practice nationwide. Stodden was 16 when her parents permitted her to marry Doug Hutchison, a Hollywood actor roughly three decades her senior, in 2011. The union drew international headlines and led to appearances on several US reality television programmes.

Reflecting on the change, Stodden called the law a "victory" and said survivors of child marriage should never have been expected to shoulder the burden of fixing the problem themselves. She pledged to continue her advocacy, stating she would "keep fighting until children are protected from marriage in all 50 states." Her remarks underscored the broader ambition of campaigners who view California's move as a significant but incomplete step toward nationwide reform.

Under the previous legal framework in California, there was no minimum age for marriage. Children could wed provided their parents gave consent and a judge approved the union. The arrangement left minors with no mechanism to seek a divorce on their own, trapping many young people—disproportionately girls—in relationships they could not legally exit. Advocates say this combination of permissive entry and restricted exit created conditions ripe for coercion and abuse.

The advocacy group Unchained At Last, which has campaigned to end child marriage across the United States, estimates that roughly 9,000 girls were married each year in California. According to the organisation, nearly all of those marriages involved girls wed to adult men. The group and other campaigners argue that many Americans remain unaware that child marriage is still legal in so many states, or that it has been linked to allegations of abuse and exploitation.

Brittany Bee, a former child bride who has worked alongside other survivors for years to change California's laws, welcomed the signing. Speaking to the BBC, she said California had "sent a clear message to the world today," describing it as a message of hope that children might be free from systemic violence and able to choose their own path. Bee recounted that she married at 17 in an attempt to escape an abusive home, only to allege she was then abused by her adult husband. "I was just going from one prison to another," she said, adding that people who claim she made a choice fail to understand that children cannot consent.

Sara Tasneen, another survivor who says she was forced to marry a man nearly twice her age when she was 15, described the moment as "surreal." She began lobbying for reform in 2017 and said she was introduced to her husband on the morning of their arranged marriage. She became a mother the following year at 16 and dropped out of school. Tasneen called the legislative journey a "marathon" and expressed gratitude that children will no longer be able to marry in California after 1 January 2027.

The timeline reflects the long path the bill travelled through the state legislature, where previous attempts to raise the minimum marriage age had stalled amid concerns over parental rights and religious freedom. Supporters argue that such objections overlook the harm caused when minors are married off, often to much older partners, without the legal means to leave. The new statute removes both the parental-consent pathway and the judicial sign-off that had previously allowed underage unions.

California's decision arrives amid a broader national shift. About a decade ago, child marriage was permitted in every US state. Since 2018, a growing number of states have moved to restrict or eliminate the practice, with California now the 18th to enact a ban. Campaigners say the patchwork of laws that remains means a child who is barred from marrying in one state may still be able to do so in another, underlining the need for federal action.

Advocates also point to the practical consequences that follow child marriage, including disrupted education, increased poverty and limited economic independence. Many young brides leave school, as Tasneen did, and face barriers to employment and financial autonomy. The absence of a divorce mechanism for minors compounds these disadvantages, leaving young people dependent on adults and the courts to extricate them from marriages they entered as children.

For survivors who testified, lobbied and publicly shared their experiences, the law represents both a legislative victory and a personal milestone. Stodden, Bee and Tasneen each described years of effort to persuade lawmakers that the issue demanded attention. Their testimony helped reframe child marriage not as a private family matter but as a safeguarding concern with lasting consequences for young people's health, safety and futures.

While the new law applies only within California's borders, campaigners hope it will accelerate momentum elsewhere. Stodden's vow to keep fighting in all 50 states signals that the movement intends to press remaining legislatures to follow suit. Whether the 32 states where the practice remains legal will act remains uncertain, but California's ban adds significant weight to the argument that marriage should be reserved for adults capable of giving informed consent.