We all love weddings. Dad walks his thirty-something daughter down the aisle, kisses her, then hands her to the groom. She takes a new name. We shed a few joyous tears, hands clap, and call it beautiful.
Did you know that marriage was originally a transfer of property? A daughter moved from her father's household to her husband's. The giving away, the name change, the vows of obedience. It was all part of that transfer, dressed up in flowers and lace.
I always assumed a wedding ceremony was a sweet nod to tradition.
Not always. For too many young girls, that wedding is still essentially a transfer of property.
Child Marriage in the US
I researched all this because California passed a law against child marriage. I was surprised. Why the hell wasn’t there a law already? If only it was that simple.
Between 2000 and 2021, more than 314,000 children were legally married in the United States. 86% of them were girls. 78% were married to adult men.
Did you know that 32 states still allow child marriage, right now?2 Two of them, Mississippi and New Mexico, don’t even have a minimum marriage age. That’s right, a five year old can be married.3
In four states, Arkansas, Maryland, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, there’s a nice legal loophole to avoid statutory rape charges. It seems a pregnancy lowers the minimum marriage age.4 A girl gets pregnant by a man, who is legally committing statutory rape. Instead, the law interprets the pregnancy as her being ready to be a wife.
In fact, 66,415 child marriages met the definition of statutory rape under the states' own laws.5 Yep, that marriage license made the charge of statutory rape just disappear.
That young girl can’t even leave the marriage. In states where child marriage is still legal, a fourteen-year-old can't hire a divorce attorney, can't sign a lease, and can't check herself into a domestic violence shelter. Those shelters are for adults.6
If the supposed marriage turns on her, she has no legal way to save herself and leave.
Resistance to Change
California is an example of the resistance to changing child marriage laws. California introduced bills to outlaw child marriage in 2017, 2019, 2023, and 2024. Each one died.7 The groups that blocked them weren't the ones I expected.
The ACLU of California. Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. The Children's Law Center. Each had careful, thoughtful reasons rooted in protecting a minor's autonomy and reproductive rights.8 Others cited respect for customs and laws of religious groups.
I get it. The perspective of the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and others isn’t paranoia. In our contentious, divided, and litigious world, their concern is valid. If the state draws a line around what a girl under eighteen can decide about her own body, the same reasoning could be used around what any woman can decide about hers.
How sad is that? We can’t easily protect young girls because a decision could be twisted to further reduce adult women's rights.
The Bottom Line
We are being forced to weigh the value of protecting young girls against protecting women’s rights overall.
The California 2026 bill only moved forward after Planned Parenthood went quiet. Not in favor. Just not opposed. Legislators seem to have timed the bill so it was passed.10
It took nine years of effort to protect little girls in the most progressive state in our country.
What about the other thirty-two? States where no one with real power has introduced a bill. Where no survivors are being heard in the capitol. Where the oldest traditions still sit comfortably wrapped around young girls’ futures.
All I can think about is those young girls.
Girls who should be doing homework, wondering what to wear to the Homecoming game, daydreaming about their first love.
Instead, she can sign a marriage license to a man old enough to be her father.
I think a country that calls itself a world leader can do better by our young girls. Women too.
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Sources
1 314,000+ children married 2000–2021; 86% girls; 78% minor girls to adult men. Unchained At Last analysis of marriage-license data. https://www.unchainedatlast.org/child-marriage-shocking-statistics/
2 Thirty-two states still allow child marriage once California's ban takes effect: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming. https://fedlaws.org/child-marriage-is-still-legal-in-34-u-s-states/
3 Mississippi and New Mexico set no statutory minimum marriage age once California's and Oklahoma's bans take effect. https://www.unchainedatlast.org/child-marriage-shocking-statistics/
4 Arkansas, Maryland, New Mexico, Oklahoma retain pregnancy exceptions that lower the minimum marriage age. https://equalitynow.org/news/press-releases/new-report-highlights-legal-loopholes-that-permit-child-marriage-in-34-us-states/
5 66,415 marriages met the definition of a sex crime under states' own laws. Journal of Adolescent Health. https://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(21)00552-8/fulltext
6 Legal rights gap: minors can marry but typically cannot divorce, retain counsel, or enter domestic violence shelters before 18. https://www.unchainedatlast.org/child-marriage-shocking-statistics/
7 Nearly a decade of failed child marriage ban bills in California (2017, 2019, 2023, 2024). https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/09/california-child-marriage/
8 ACLU of California, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, and Children's Law Center positions and reasoning. https://www.kqed.org/news/12100577/california-wants-to-ban-child-marriage-these-civil-rights-groups-are-trying-to-stop-it
9 Legislators timed AB 1267 to move before Planned Parenthood could mount effective opposition; Planned Parenthood took no position, and the bill passed unanimously. https://hsjchronicle.com/california-bill-would-ban-cahild-marriage-but-some-civil-rights-groups-are-pushing-back/