But if I can't give my 14 year old daughter to Tom down the street, he won't give me 3 goats.
Dude I need that dowry. I love my daughter, sure. But not like I love goats.
this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2026
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This guy has FBI agent written all over him
For those who don't understand why child marriage is usually a spectacularly bad idea for the underaged partner in one:
https://unchainedatlast.org/child-marriage-in-the-u-s/
Also includes map of which states allow underage marriage and under what conditions, as well as a map of youngest allowable marriage in that state (apparently both NM and MS have no lower limit).
Basically exactly what I expected the map, save for 2
Kudos to Oklahoma. Would not have expected them to have strong anti-child marriage laws
Shame on Illinois. Didn't expect them to be so receptive of child marriage
Sorry to any other outliars I may have missed. Generally seems to be Republicans in favor of child marriage, with Democratic states banning it
Marriage is a contract. People can’t enter into contract under 18 without parental consent. Why is this true, but somehow a child has capacity to enter a life long contract of marriage? I get parental consent is needed for child marriage, but it still makes no sense to have a child enter a contract this intense at an age they can’t do it without parental consent. You can’t vote or serve in the military yet, but you have the capacity to enter a marriage contract? That’s fucking stupid.
Not actually true, children can legally contract under 18, they do so whenever they make a purchase at a store.
I'm not California qualified but in most US states the position is derived from ancient UK law which basically has a handful of exceptions to do with basic living (food housing etc) which minors can contract on .
Marriage historically was one of those. I havent studied it specifically but vague recollection was age of consent and age to marry were historically aligned legally
Now how are Republicans supposed to get a date?
propose the ban in all 50 states
investigate every single elected official who comes out in opposition
I wonder
What kind of people
https://www.newsweek.com/these-michigan-republicans-voted-against-child-marriage-ban-1808308
Consistently vote against it?
We can't even be bothered to investigate those who are in the Epstein files.
Exactly, there is no reason to oppose banning this unless you're a pedo
From Wikipedia:
Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Oklahoma do not allow underage marriage. The other states allow an underage person to marry in the following circumstances:
If one or more of the following apply:
- consent of the parents or legal guardians of the >minor
- consent of a court clerk or judge
- if the minor is emancipated.
Or in exceptional circumstances if one or more of the following circumstances apply:
- consent of a superior court judge, rather than a local judge, is required
- if one of the parties is pregnant
- if the minor has given birth to a child
Basically, in these places, there's a loophole where offenders can marry their rape victims after the fact to make it look proper for the church or something. That and also allow parents or guardians to sell minors into arranged marriages.
I wonder if anyone was dumb enough to oppose this ban and if so we should list them.
An especially cruel catch-22 in child marriage is that the underage person cannot file for divorce until they're an adult.
Well, yeah. That's sinful! And they're not old enough to make that decision. Best let the husband do the thinking for both of them.
/s
https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/09/california-child-marriage/
Unfortunately, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU are pro-child marriage and they spend big to keep it legal.
Children have a right to marry, the ACLU argues, and stripping them of that right would take away a pathway to their emancipation and independent healthcare decisions. For Planned Parenthood, the freedom for children to marry is about allowing people reproductive choice and bodily autonomy.
But their efforts have repeatedly failed in California, where Planned Parenthood and the ACLU have lobbied hard against restricting child marriage, although those groups have largely stayed silent on the issue in other Democratic-controlled states.
In a June opposition letter, the organization wrote, “Prohibiting minors from marrying in every case is a departure from California’s longstanding commitment to honoring minors’ ability to make important personal decisions for themselves, particularly in the realm of reproductive autonomy.”
These two organizations are entirely misled and spreading misleading information on this issue and are harming kids (vast majority are young girls) with that rhetoric above. Emancipation and reproductive autonomy should not be tied to marriage in the first place.
I don't disagree with their reasoning. This is an area where we'd want studies to investigate if their argument has merit
I think the data would show the case they're arguing for is uncommon, making it a poor defense of child marriage, but it's good to verify initial feelings with data
Children’s freedom to marry? How oxymoronic. Might as well argue for selling yourself into slavery as a “pathway to emancipation.”
Or that kids should be able to sell their own organs as a “path to financial independence.”
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That's interesting. I almost always side with those two orgs so I'll have to read more about why they take this position. The way you state it sounds pretty bad.
I remember distinctly it was like to be a teenager and realize I was every bit as capable of making rational decisions as the adults around me, and frustrated that it wasn't really recognized. That's not to say it was true for my peers or didn't require being well-informed in the first place. But as a result I'm generally in favor of lessening restrictions on minors where there's no direct harm and raising penalties on adults who manipulate or abuse them. So I'll hold out some hope that these orgs want that but are just communicating it poorly (still a problem, but more easily solved).
Planned Parenthood is also lobbying against the billionaire tax, due to their belief it would lower healthcare funding.
How the fuck do they come up with this conclusion?
Two rationales are being lobbied:
-
The billionaires will leave the state, lowering overall taxes gathered in the long-term.
-
The law doesn't provide safeguards on how the money will be used, so it won't go towards the things the law says it will.
I think both are bullshit reasons that billionaires and their leaches use to allow billionaires to continue fucking over the world, but they sound legit to people who don't have access to a ton of data.
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In the assembly, it looks like 8 Republicans voted against and 5 more abstained.
ACLU California Action and the City of Mission Viejo also opposed the legislation. (Click on Supporters and Opponents to read the ACLU's opinion.)
It’s interesting to point out too that some of these states, like Oklahoma, only joined the list within the last year as well.
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Weird how the USA has so much in common with countries like Saudi Arabia, yemen, Somalia
So, apparently, does France. France has the same exceptions to allow 16 year olds to marry adults. And Spain. And Italy. And virtually the entirety of Eastern Europe. Belgium has no minimum age as long as a judge allows it.
If you look at the map of where minors can get married to adults without parental consent, Scotland is more lenient than anywhere in the US. Scotland is actually one of a tiny tiny few countries that allow minors to marry adults without any exceptions required. Adults can just outright marry children in Scotland without issue. Only 7 countries in the world allow that. Most in Africa and the Middle East. And then Scotland.
Map of places where a judge can OK a marriage. I’m not saying the USA is good, but Europe has plenty of spots wheee you can technically marry as a 16 year old (or less). Worldwide problem.
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Its not popular - hence why it's changing. Nuance is lost on the internet, but people really need to start chilling out about making blanket assumptions of huge swaths of people.
Its one of the "automatic assumptions" people have - that it IS illegal. So they wouldn't bother looking it up.
Most Americans don't have the slightest idea of what is/isn't legal. Gotta remember, before the internet, you had to get a physical copy of your state's statutes. These change frequently, and are quite large.
Legalinfo first started in 1994, and it took a much longer time before states have their own websites.
Y'all Qaeda lives
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The USA is a third world country
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