Overview
- State senators voted unanimously on Aug. 19–20 to pass Assembly Bill 1267, moving the ban on underage marriage out of the Senate and back to the Assembly for final committee and floor action.
- If the Assembly Judiciary Committee clears the bill and the full Assembly approves it, the measure would then go to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is widely expected to sign it into law.
- Under current California law a minor of any age may marry with parental consent and judicial approval, a process advocates say can enable coercion because judges rely on interviews to assess consent.
- Survivors and advocacy groups led the push for the change, with Courtney Stodden and the nonprofit Unchained at Last publicly celebrating the Senate vote and urging Californians to press lawmakers.
- Advocates note about 35,000 underage marriages occurred in California from 2000 to 2021, mostly involving girls, and say the bill would align marriage law with the state’s 18-year age of sexual consent and strengthen child protections.