There's more detail and multiple anecdotes elsewhere, eg:
It’s estimated that, each year, 12 million girls around the world are married before they turn 18. The perception that child marriage is something that happens to other kids in other places – not the United States – is a false one.
Between 2000 and 2021, nearly 315,000 children were legally entered into marriage across the U.S. The vast majority were girls wed to adult men.
Mandy’s mother encouraged her to become affectionate with the man from their church in Arizona who was showing an interest in Mandy.
He was aged 18. Mandy was 12.
His grooming and abuse continued for years, fully sanctioned by Mandy’s mother, who spoke of God’s plan. He proposed to her four years later, and she tried to say no. After exhausting every possible way to escape what her parents were forcing her to do, she ran away, but as a minor, she had no power. Her parents were able to force her back home and into marriage.
Mandy was married a week after her 17th birthday to her 23-year-old longtime rapist and abuser.
She was trapped in a marriage marked by relentless emotional, physical, verbal and financial abuse.
When Mandy finally escaped as an adult, at age 20, she was excommunicated from her church. She lost all her family and friends. She was left to rebuild her life on her own.
I've known other 17 year olds who were ready to start a family, and for whom waiting a year would mean bringing one less cherished person into the world. Which scenario is more common? Where should we draw the line? This is almost entirely subjective, and it's hard to fault a jurisdiction for inconsistency.
Let's err on the side that doesn't result in children being forced to marry pedophiles. Yes, the line can be subjective, but the vast majority of cases of child marriage are underage women being forced to marry men over the age of majority.
People not being able to marry at 17 doesn't stop them from waiting a year to be married. That isn't going to stop them from being patient, and won't stop them from having a child.
The existance of women who willingly marry early and have not been groomed since the age of twelve in no way negates the existance of women who have been groomed from a young age into marriages they don't want and rush to leave.