California bans child marriage: Newsom signs AB 1267 setting 18 as minimum age
Synopsis
California has become one of just 17-plus US states to impose an absolute ban on child marriage, as Governor Newsom signed AB 1267 with survivor Courtney Stodden at his side. The law eliminates every parental-consent exception — and its advocates are already pointing to the remaining 33 states where children can still legally wed.
Key Takeaways
Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1267 on 1 October 2025 , setting 18 as the minimum age for marriage and domestic partnership in California .
The law removes all prior provisions allowing minors to marry with parental consent.
The bill was introduced by Assemblymember Gail Pellerin of Santa Cruz and sponsored by Unchained At Last and the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls .
Survivor and advocate Courtney Stodden , who was married at 16 to 50-year-old actor Doug Hutchison , stood alongside Newsom at the signing.
California joins 17 US states that have enacted complete child marriage bans with no exceptions.
Advocates have pledged to continue the campaign until all 50 states prohibit marriage under 18 .
California Governor Gavin Newsom on 1 October 2025 signed AB 1267 into law, setting 18 as the absolute minimum age for marriage and domestic partnership in the state and eliminating all existing provisions that allowed minors to wed with parental consent. The measure marks a decisive legal shift for the most populous US state and adds California to the list of jurisdictions with an unconditional ban on child marriage.
What AB 1267 Changes
The new law replaces prior statutes that permitted minors to enter marriages or domestic partnerships if a parent consented. Under AB 1267, no exception based on parental approval remains. The legislation was introduced by Democratic Assemblymember Gail Pellerin of Santa Cruz and was sponsored by two organisations: Unchained At Last, a national campaign group working to end child marriage, and the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls.
The governor's office confirmed that the bill was signed on Wednesday and covers both marriage and domestic partnership equally, closing a legal pathway that advocates say was routinely used to coerce minors into unions they did not freely choose.
Survivor at the Centre of the Signing
Newsom signed the bill alongside Courtney Stodden, a prominent advocate whose parents permitted her to marry 50-year-old actor Doug Hutchison when she was just 16. The governor's office described Stodden as a survivor of child marriage who became a national advocate against child exploitation following her divorce. Stodden has characterised her relationship with Hutchison as abusive and predatory.
Stodden welcomed the signing but made clear the campaign was far from over. '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,' she said. '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.'
What Survivors Told Lawmakers
Assemblymember Pellerin credited survivors with directly shaping the legislation, saying their testimonies revealed how parental approval or the appearance of consent could conceal systematic coercion. '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,' Pellerin said.
Pellerin also highlighted the structural barriers that make it difficult for minors to seek help when the very adults meant to protect them are complicit in the marriage. 'They told us how difficult it can be for a minor to ask for help, find an attorney, leave home, or escape the very adults who are supposed to protect them,' she said.
Governor Newsom, in a statement released by his office, framed the legislation in unambiguous terms: 'This is a long overdue measure to protect young Californians and minors. Today, California kids are safer than ever before.'
The Broader US Landscape
Marriage law in the United States is governed state by state, making the campaign to abolish child marriage a patchwork effort rather than a single federal fix. According to the governor's office, 17 US states had already enacted complete bans on child marriage with no exceptions before California's move. Unchained At Last has campaigned for an unconditional minimum marriage age of 18 across all 50 states, and advocates say California's law strengthens that push significantly.
Notably, this comes amid a wider national conversation on minor protections, with several other states weighing similar legislation. California's size and political influence often set precedents that other states follow, which could give this signing outsized national momentum.
What Comes Next
With the bill now law, California joins a growing bloc of states with absolute bans, putting fresh pressure on the remaining states that still permit marriage below 18 under varying exceptions. Unchained At Last and allied survivor advocates have signalled they will escalate their state-by-state legislative campaigns. Whether federal legislation could eventually unify standards remains an open question in Washington.
Point of View
Leaving 33 where child marriage remains legal under some conditions. The real test of this moment is whether California's political weight accelerates legislation elsewhere or whether the state-by-state model continues to allow the issue to stall in legislatures with less progressive majorities. The presence of Courtney Stodden at the signing was a deliberate framing choice: it ties abstract policy to a named, televised face and makes the counter-argument — that parental consent is a sufficient safeguard — much harder to sustain publicly. Advocates are right that survivor testimony drove this bill; the question now is whether testimony alone is enough in states where cultural or religious resistance to a hard age floor remains entrenched.
NationPress
1 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What does California's new child marriage ban law do?
AB 1267 sets 18 as the absolute minimum age for marriage and domestic partnership in California, eliminating all previous provisions that allowed minors to marry with parental consent. It was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on 1 October 2025.
Who introduced AB 1267 and who sponsored it?
The bill was introduced by Democratic Assemblymember Gail Pellerin of Santa Cruz. Its sponsors were Unchained At Last, an organisation campaigning against child marriage, and the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls.
Who is Courtney Stodden and why was she present at the signing?
Courtney Stodden is a survivor of child marriage who became a national advocate against child exploitation. She was present because her parents permitted her to marry 50-year-old actor Doug Hutchison when she was 16; she has described that relationship as abusive and predatory.
How many US states have completely banned child marriage?
According to the governor's office, 17 US states — including California after this signing — have enacted complete bans on child marriage with no exceptions. The remaining states still permit marriage below 18 under varying conditions, making the campaign a state-by-state effort.
What happens next in the campaign against child marriage in the US?
Advocates including Courtney Stodden and Unchained At Last have pledged to continue lobbying for similar legislation across all 50 states. California's law adds momentum, but there is no single federal law governing minimum marriage ages, so each state must act independently.
