California bans child marriage with no exceptions, becoming the 18th state to do so

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Bill AB 1267 on September 30, setting 18 as the minimum age for marriage with no exceptions, repealing provisions that allowed minors to marry with parental consent. California is now the 18th state to prohibit child marriage without exception, though such marriages remain legal under varying restrictions in 32 other states.

The U.N. estimates 12 million girls become child brides annually; bans address the issue in specific jurisdictions but do not yet address the global scale of the problem.