July 15, 2025

Child marriage bills: Good, bad & WTF

You are not imagining it. We are definitely kicking butt in 2025 as we push toward our shared goal of ending child marriage in the U.S. Here is a mid-year recap:

The Good News:

• We convinced Maine, Oregon, Missouri and Washington. D.C. to ban child marriage. We are now 16 states, two territories and one district down — i.e., ONE THIRD of the country. Only 34 states and three territories to go. !!!
• We defeated the bill that would have brought back child marriage in New Hampshire following our legislative victory there last year. PHEW!

The Bad News:

• We survived -9 temperatures in Pierre but failed to convince South Dakota legislators that girls matter. The bill to ban child marriage was defeated in the senate.
• Similar bills in Arizona and Texas died at the end of the session. But at least the Texas bill passed out of the House of Representatives — the farthest any bill to ban child marriage has gone in Texas.

The WTF News:

• Utah remains committed to a human rights abuse that destroys girls’ lives, but it passed a bill to allow minors to be married off to spouses “only” four years older, instead of the previous seven years. Huhhhh???

The Ongoing News:

• Bills to ban marriage before age 18 in Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, South Carolina and Hawaii did not pass but did not die; they will carry over to next year.

Let’s keep up the momentum. Together we can ban child marriage in every U.S. state. Donate now.