Child marriage is an ugly reality in California. Why are Democrats defending it? | Opinion

Kevin Bolling
Wed, June 12, 2024

This year, California had another opportunity to ban child marriage in the state, but a division inside the Democratic Party is dashing those hopes in a disturbing display of indifference.

In February, Asm. Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Irvine, introduced Assembly Bill 2924 to finally end the gruesome act of state-sanctioned child marriage in California. Last month, Assembly Judiciary Committee Chairman Ash Kalra, D- San Jose, demanded amendments that would have gutted the bill before the legislation received a hearing. In effect, the Democratic chairman killed the bill before it ever went to a vote.

California is one of just four states in the nation with no minimum age for marriage. Minors of any age can be married if a judge and, in most cases, a parent or guardian approve. In 2021 alone, California witnessed an estimated 8,789 minors, ages 15 to 17, entering into marriage, as reported by the American Community Survey.

The practice, typically involving girls wed to much older men, is often exploited by fundamentalist religious and culturally conservative communities and lacks full, free consent.

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AB 2924 would set a minimum age of 18 to marry, with no exceptions. The bill has more than 30 bipartisan legislative co-authors and support from the Legislative Women’s Caucus, dozens of California and national organizations and child marriage survivors.

The same month the bill stalled in the legislature, Gov. Gavin Newsom was chastising Missouri State Senator Mike Moon in a tweet for “advocating for 12-year-old kids to be married off to adults.” Why isn’t Newsom championing the end of child marriage in California? Why does this state allow a 15-year-old girl to be married off by her father without her mother’s knowledge?

Kalra and a few other Democrats appear to have caved to pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union of California and Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. These two California groups support child marriage, unlike their counterparts in almost every other U.S. state that has supported minimum marriage ages or stayed neutral.

The ACLU claims banning child marriage would be “denying these young people the right to marry.” But children, as minors, do not have that right. Under the current law, a judge and a parent may enter a child into marriage, with no real recourse for a minor who does not want to marry. Child marriage is not a right. It is a human rights abuse. The United Nations seeks to ban the practice worldwide by 2030.

Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California cited fears of impinging on minors’ reproductive rights. However, California’s legal system, which upholds minors’ rights to access abortion and contraception without parental consent, already delineates these boundaries. In 2022, California voters approved an amendment to the state constitution that specifically protects access to abortion and contraception. Moreover, the global stance of the International Planned Parenthood Federation advocates to end child marriage, calling it “one of the most persistent forms of sanctioned sexual abuse of girls.”

The current legal framework in California runs the risk of forced child marriages due to substantial loopholes in the law. California must seize this opportunity to reform its policy resulting in a spectrum of risks, including forced sexual relations, unwanted pregnancies and psychological trauma.

Passing AB 2924 is a critical step toward protecting the state’s youth and ensuring their rights to autonomy, safety, and health. The governor and leadership in the Legislature should get behind this bill and file a rule waiver to put it up for a vote. This is not just a legal or political issue but a clear-cut case of protecting the vulnerable.

Kevin Bolling is executive director of California’s Secular Student Alliance.