1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

Vote yes on AB 1267 and help end child marriage in California. This is not a fringe issue — between 2000 and 2021, roughly 315,000 children were married in the United States, the vast majority of them girls wed to adult men. At least 66,415 of those marriages occurred under circumstances that should have been prosecuted as sex crimes. California can lead the way by setting 18 as the minimum marriage age with no exceptions. Child marriage is child abuse. The U.S. State Department says so. The UN classifies it as forced marriage. And in most states, including California, marriage can legally transform what would otherwise be statutory rape into something the law permits. That is indefensible. AB 1267 closes that loophole. Please vote yes.