Rachel Franklin, CBS 8
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California has officially banned child marriage.
After nearly a decade of advocacy from former child brides and their supporters, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1267 into law Wednesday, raising the minimum age of marriage to 18, without exceptions.
Three former child brides were invited to celebrate in Sacramento, including Christina Sutton, who married a 22-year-old man when she was 17 years old.
"It was almost out of body because it's been such a hard run," Sutton told News 8. "It was very exciting. It's really just incredible that this is done, and it's a relief, you know, because this is literally protecting so many girls and boys — primarily girls, though — from having to go through this."
Until now, California was one of three states with no age restrictions on marriage and one of 33 states that allows minors to marry. According to an analysis of U.S. Census data, 35,000 underage marriages occurred in California from 2000 to 2021. The vast majority were between an underage girl and an adult man.
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"My own marriage was really just not — it was not a free decision — and it's complicated to explain how the coercion factors into child marriage, especially in the cases of older teens like I was at 17," Sutton said. "And there's a level of vindication in finally having the state of California say, 'Hey, you know what? That's not okay.' And then there's another part of me where I'm just so relieved that no other girls are going to have to experience that."
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This year's bill from Assemblymember Gail Pellerin passed unanimously on the Senate and Assembly floors, but Unchained at Last and California lawmakers have tried and failed to ban child marriage for nearly a decade.
