A lawmaker in the US state of Missouri has introduced legislation to clarify that the state’s judges can grant divorces even when one spouse is pregnant.
The notion that they can’t already has sparked anger from people who see it as an antiquated policy that controls women unfairly, possibly trapping them in abusive marriages.
But divorce lawyers say the practice – which goes beyond Missouri – is not meant to be punitive for pregnant women and has some important practical benefits.
Here’s a look at the issue.
Can pregnant women get divorced?
The Missouri law on divorce does not specifically bar finalising divorces for pregnant women, but “whether the wife is pregnant” is one of the eight pieces of information — along with things like where the parties live and when they separated — that’s required when someone files for divorce.
Lawyers and advocates say judges in Missouri and some other states do not finalise divorces when a woman in the couple is pregnant.
But that doesn’t prevent someone from starting the process during a pregnancy.
Nevada Smith, a St. Charles, Missouri, lawyer who handles divorces, said it makes sense that judges will not finalise divorces during a pregnancy because a child would impact the custody and child support terms of a divorce.
And divorces usually take months, even in the rare ones without contested issues.
“You kind of need to know if you have two children or if you have three,” he said.
Or a child born with special needs could change the equation, too.
The situation is similar in other states, said Kris Balekian Hayes, a Dallas-based lawyer who handles divorces.
She said that Texas judges also don’t finalise divorces during a pregnancy of one of the spouses.
Exactly which other states have similar practices is hard to determine since it’s not spelled out in divorce laws.
Family law courts in many places are clogged with cases already, Hayes said, so it would not help to revisit them after the birth of a child.
People have complained that it’s so outlandish that we could force someone to stay married to the batterer,” said Hayes, who said that in 25 years of divorce law, she can think of just four cases she handled that involved pregnancy.
“It’s not intended to be punitive to her but to account for the child’s needs.”
She said the first step in dealing with an abusive relationship is to seek a protective order, not divorce.
Why is a Missouri lawmaker calling for changes?
Missouri Representative Ashley Aune, a Democrat who is up for reelection this year, said she wants to use the law to make it clear that divorces can be finalised even during pregnancy.
She said the issue was brought to her attention by a group that serves victims of domestic violence, which she said needed to build an additional facility to house women who have several children, partly because they’re not allowed to get divorced while pregnant.
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