New Victory! Missouri Bans Child Marriage

July 9, 2025

Today, Missouri officially banned child marriage, marking a monumental victory for girls across the state and a record-shattering year in the fight to end child marriage. Governor Mike Kehoe signed into law the bill passed by the Missouri Legislature in April, setting the minimum marriage age at 18—without exceptions.

Missouri is now the fourth victory against child marriage in 2025 and the 16th state to ban this abuse since the movement to end child marriage in the U.S. began.

This milestone has been years in the making. In 2018, lawmakers raised the marriage age from 15 to 16, but still allowed minors to marry with the consent of one parent or guardian, leaving thousands of minors vulnerable. Last year, working in conjunction with our allies and former Missouri State Senator Holly Thompson Rehder, Senator Lauren Arthur, and Representative Chris Dinkins, SB767/HB2709 was introduced to end all marriage before age 18. The bill died before it could get a vote on the House floor. This year we continued the fight with our allies and legislation was introduced by Senator McCreery and Representatives Reuter and Schmidt, and supported by the continued efforts of former Senator Holly Thompson Rehder, a child marriage survivor herself.

Thanks to AHA Foundation and our dedicated allies and supporters, years of advocacy have finally led to this milestone. But the fight isn’t over—every victory brings us closer to protecting all minors from child marriage in the U.S. and there are still 34 states to go.

Please continue to stand with us. Together, we are changing the future for girls across the U.S.