As states push to end child marriage, they face an unlikely opponent: the abortion lobby.

Some California lawmakers want their state to outlaw child marriage. Yet, it is not the far right leading the push against such a ban in California. It is organizations such as Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union .

Their opposition to outlawing child marriage is a perfect example of how these organizations, especially Planned Parenthood, do not care about women.

Child marriage is a lousy foreign cultural practice imported to the United States. It remains legal in 41 states , but every state should outlaw it.

When child marriage happens in other countries, the State Department calls it a “human rights abuse.”

That is understandable. Child brides are far more likely to face abuse than those who marry after the age of 18. Girls who marry before 15 years old are about 50% more likely to experience physical or sexual intimate partner violence than those who marry as adults, according to Girls Not Brides . Additionally, child marriage usually results in the bride ending her education with less than a high school degree, harming her economic prospects.

Meanwhile, having sex with a minor under 16 years old is statutory rape in all 50 states, as is having sex with someone under 17 or 18 in many states. However, in states such as California, the age of consent law does not apply if the two people having sex are married, and there is no minimum marriage age in California.

If liberal advocacy groups cannot condemn this practice, they are allowing partisan agendas to cloud their conscientiousness. It is sad to see because this prevents them from backing a measure that should have overwhelming bipartisan support.

Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union oppose banning child marriage for different reasons, which are equally foolish.

The ACLU thinks children can consent to marriage.

“We believe that some youth can appropriately make this decision for themselves,” an ACLU spokesman told the Los Angeles Times.

And Planned Parenthood falsely claims that outlawing child marriage somehow infringes on abortion “rights” for minors.

A spokesman for the organization told the Los Angeles Times that laws should “not impede on the reproductive rights of minors and their ability to decide what is best for them, their health, and their lives.”

The abortion debate is irrelevant here. Blue states such as Massachusetts and New Jersey have outlawed child marriage, and abortion is, unfortunately, still legal. New Jersey requires no parental consent or notification, and Massachusetts only requires parental notification for minors under 16 years old.

Regardless of one's view of abortion, making parents aware of statutory rape is a good idea.

Hopefully, California and other states will ignore these special interest groups, do what is right, and finally end this barbaric practice. Girls are suffering because of child marriage, so those who care about the well-being of women should fight to outlaw it.

Tom Joyce ( @TomJoyceSports ) is a political reporter for the New Boston Post in Massachusetts.