A Missouri lawmaker has introduced legislation to clarify that state judges can grant divorces even if one spouse is pregnant.
The idea that they can’t do so has already raised the ire of people who see it as an outdated policy that unfairly controls women and possibly traps them in abusive marriages.
But divorce attorneys say the practice, which extends beyond Missouri, is not intended to penalize pregnant women and has some important practical benefits.
Here’s a look at the problem.
CAN PREGNANT WOMEN GET DIVORCE?
Missouri divorce law does not specifically prohibit divorce finalization for pregnant women, but “whether the wife is pregnant” is one of eight pieces of information (along with things like where the parties live and when they separated) that is required when someone files to court. for divorce.
Lawyers and advocates say judges in Missouri and some other states are not granting divorces when the woman in a couple is pregnant. But that doesn’t stop someone from starting this process during pregnancy.
Nevada Smith, a divorce lawyer in St. Charles, Missouri, said it makes sense for judges not to make a final divorce decision during pregnancy because the arrival of a child will affect the terms of custody and child support in a divorce. And divorces usually take months, even in those rare cases when no controversial issues arise.
“You kind of need to know if you have two kids or three,” he said.
Or a child born with special needs could change the equation too.
The situation is similar in other states, said Chris Balekian Hayes, a Dallas divorce lawyer. She said that Texas judges also do not issue divorces during pregnancy of one of the spouses. It is difficult to determine which states have this practice because it is not written into divorce laws.
Family courts in many places are already clogged with cases, so visiting them again after the baby is born won’t help, Hayes said.
“People have complained that it’s so outlandish that we could force someone to stay married to an abuser,” said Hayes, who said that in the 25 years of divorce law, she can only remember four cases she handled involving with pregnancy. “This is not a punishment for her, but taking into account the needs of the child.”
She said the first step in ending an abusive relationship is getting a protective order, not getting a divorce.
WHY IS A MISSOURI LAWMAKER CALLING FOR CHANGE?
Missouri Rep. Ashley Aune, a Democrat who is up for re-election this year, said she wants to use the law to make it clear that divorce can be finalized even during pregnancy.
She said the issue was brought to her attention by a group that helps victims of domestic violence, which she said needs to build an additional facility to house women who have multiple children, in part because they are not allowed to divorce while pregnant .
“If you can keep someone pregnant forever, it would have devastating consequences,” Aune said in an interview.
Aune said men are also caught up in the policy, including cases where they are stuck in a marriage with a wife who is pregnant by another man.
“Life will change in 2024, and I would like our policies to keep up with the times,” she said.
WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS FOR LEGISLATION?
At a committee hearing in February, everyone who signed up to testify about the measure supported it.
In written testimony, Julie Donelon, president of the Metropolitan Organization Against Sexual Assault, told lawmakers that restricting divorce during pregnancy “creates unnecessary barriers and delays a woman’s ability to leave an abusive relationship.”
But the path to passing the law is not clear.
Aune said she was reconsidering the exact wording of the measure.
And she said that even after the bill is finalized, she’s not confident it will move forward, in part because she’s a Democrat in a GOP-dominated Legislature — although the bill’s sponsors include Republicans.
Rep. Bill Hardwick, chairman of the House Emerging Issues Committee assigned to Aune’s bill, said he was open to considering it but was unsure whether it would come to a vote.
“This is kind of a new frontier for some judges and some lawyers,” Hardwick said. “I think we just need to approach this responsibly.”
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Associated Press reporters Jacques Billot in Phoenix; Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; and David Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri, contributed to this article.