A Missouri law forbids pregnant women from divorce. A proposed bill looks to change that.
A controversial law in Missouri doesn't allow pregnant women to get divorced. The legislation has been in place for 50 years, but there is now a push by a Democratic state representative to overturn it.
The state's law was initially meant to "prevent what the courts consider the 'bastardization' of a child," Missouri House Rep. Ashley Aune, a Democrat who represents the 14th district in Kansas City, told USA TODAY.
The law was aimed at protecting families and basically made it illegal for pregnant couples to get a divorce before the mother gives birth.
Aune sponsored House Bill 2402. The bill has bipartisan support and is co-sponsored by Rep. Richard Brown (Democrat, 27 District), Rep. Jeff Farnan (Republican, 1 District) and Rep. Sherri Gallick (Republican, 62 District).
The bill would allow "the court to enter a judgment of dissolution of marriage or legal separation if a person is pregnant." In layman's terms, it would give pregnant woman the ability to get a divorce finalized.
"Women are terrified for a million other reasons, let's not give them one more," said Aune. "Let's give [women] a break."
Law could lead to dangerous domestic violence situations
Aune says the issue was brought to her attention by Synergy Services, a Missouri shelter that provides women and their families a safe haven from violent situations.
"The intents [of the law] were noble and I can respect where they came from, however when we know better, we do better," said Aune. "We know domestic violence is all too common, and one really distressing type of domestic violence is reproductive coercion, and often what that looks like is either an insistence or denial of pregnancy termination and sabotaging birth control."
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists defines reproductive coercion as "behavior that interferes with contraception use and pregnancy." It is also commonly called "baby trapping" and can happen to both women and men.
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Domestic violence advocate says the law gives abusers an advantage
Sara Brammer, the VP of Domestic Violence Services at Synergy Services in Kansas City, said that abusers are very conscious of this law and can use it to keep their spouses from divorcing them.
Brammer is responsible for Synergy's domestic violence shelter and domestic violence housing program. She also directs Synergy's Offender Intervention Program.
Around 80% of the people in the program were referred to the program via the court. The time spent in it ranges from 26 to 58 weeks and varies based on how high a survivor's risk of death is from the violence they experienced. The program consists of seven groups made up of 12 to 15 people each that meet each week.
"I have heard it on both sides that both women feel coerced and not able to divorce, and men are conscious to the fact that [women] can't get divorced when they're pregnant," Brammer told USA TODAY. "And they use that against their partner."
Brammer said one of the men who was in the program tracked his wife's ovulation cycle on his cell phone so he could make sure she was always pregnant while she was with him.
"We're talking about something that is absolutely very coercive and manipulative," said Brammer. "And there's a law that supports that."
She continues on to say that the law not only makes it more difficult for people to leave abusive situations, but it makes the people in those situations feel "powerless."
Proposed bill is a way out of 'bad situations' for women and men, Rep. Aune says
"I have seen friends whose partners [were] incredible partners until they got pregnant, and then all of a sudden they became monsters," said Aune
Aune said it's time to give people another option to get out of marriages like the examples she gave. She believes this house bill will help men and women get out of "bad situations" that they are stuck in because of a pregnancy.
Aune said that since this bill gained publicity, men on Reddit are speaking up and saying that this law prevented them from getting out of their marriages.
One example Aune gave was a man whose wife became pregnant when he was deployed overseas.
"There's obviously no way he was the father," said Aune. "He was overseas, but he couldn't divorce his wife."
According to Aune, if a man's wife is pregnant, he can't leave her because the state automatically assumes he is the baby's father because of their marriage.
A different Reddit user said that despite being separated from his wife, he wasn't able to divorce her when she got pregnant with the man she was living with at the time of the separation. He says they weren't allowed to divorce until the baby was born.
Next steps for the proposed bill that would overturn Missouri divorce law
The bill now heads to a House committee for a vote in order to advance. If that happens, next steps in the legislative process will include approval by the full state House and full state Senate. From there, it would end up on the governor's desk awaiting his signature to officially become a law.
What other states have a divorce law like Missouri's?
Currently, four states have bans that prevent pregnant women from getting divorced:
- Arkansas
- Arizona
- Missouri
- Texas
Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. She has covered various topics, from local businesses and government in her hometown, Miami, to tech and pop culture. You can follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, Instagram and TikTok: @juliamariegz.