It was legal in the first place?

22 of these are "red" states: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North + South Carolina, North + South Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.

6 more are blue-leaning "purple": Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico and Wisconsin.

Only four are "blue": California (ban coming into effect 2027 as per article), Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland.

I don't understand why the ban cannot come into effect immediately. Like, wouldn't want to spoil someone's child marriage plans in the next year or so because it would be rude?

Non paywalled article

https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/09/child-marriage-ban-n...

Still allowed at age 16 in Alabama.

Roll tide...... I guess....

Circumcision next?

You can’t enter into other contracts until 18 so why was marriage an exception?

still legal in 32 states, and Scotland and Northern Ireland, BBC

I don't get how child marriage can be legal. Like, yeah, they get permission from their parents. But does the fact that they're married negate other laws??? I mean, it's still rape. It's still like child abuse. Does marriage = emancipation?

Goes without saying nobody should be married before they're 18 (or probably 25, for matter, but that's another story), but it seems performative and disingenuous to call this 'child marriage'. A child is a person who hasn't yet reached puberty - clearly that isn't applicable to, say, a 17 year old.

It would be more accurate (and garner less headlines) to say California has made it unlawful for a minor to get married.

FWIW the situation in the UK, that the BBC doesn’t mention, is similarly muddy.

In England and Wales, since 2022, the minimum age is 18. Previously it was 16 with parental consent, which is the situation in (the rather more religious) Northern Ireland.

In Scotland the age is 16 and parental consent is not required.

So, well into the 20th century young English couples would flee across the border and get married there; most famously at Gretna Green, a town just inside the border.

Scottish marriages involving English/Welsh people under 18 are now not legal.

Campaigners always use examples of old men marrying young girls but that’s not common at all.

96% of children getting married were 16 or 17, and 85% of the adults marrying those children were 18-23. Not quite the horror show that campaigners push.

I agree that no one under 18 should be getting married, I just question their tactics.

> In the state, there had been no legal age to wed, allowing children to get married as long as their parents consent and a judge signs off on the nuptials.

> There was also no mechanism for people under 18 to get divorced and many girls say they were trapped in abusive and predatory relationships.

Call me misguided, but I don't necessarily see 16 year old and 20 year getting married as equally problematic as the provided examples of 30+ year age gaps.

I think the real issue people are dancing around right now culturally is that these extreme age gap relationships are beginning to make everyone feel very uncomfortable. The difference between a 17 year old and and 18 year old doesn't make them feel less gross and exploitative.