Pregnant women prevented from filing for divorce in one of the US states, even in cases of domestic violence

There is a law in Missouri, a US state, dating back to 1973 that prevents a woman from getting a divorce if she is pregnant. The situation is not new, but it has caused a stir due to statements by Ashley Aune, a Democratic deputy from that state who has denounced what she calls an “archaic loophole” and who exposes the case of a woman, who remains anonymous, and who she was prevented from dissolving a violent marriage because she was pregnant.

“She suffered physical and emotional abuse, in addition to having undergone reproductive coercion”, guarantees the deputy to the Fox4KC channel, who also says that this woman was raped by her now ex-husband six months after the birth of their first child, which led to a new pregnancy. “When she found out she was pregnant she asked a lawyer if she could get a divorce and they told her no.”

The newspaper The Guardian spoke to this woman, who admitted to feeling “defeated” when she was confronted with the law that prevented her from ending her marriage with her attacker. She says that she was forced to return to the house she shared with her then husband, where she started sleeping on the floor of her son’s room and continued to suffer episodes of violence.

Three months after the birth of her second child, this woman went to court again with a request for divorce, but this time she encountered no obstacles. To the The Guardian, says that if he had obtained permission to separate the first time he tried, he would have avoided living in an abusive environment for months. “I think he knew, he knew that if he got me pregnant I would continue to be his property.”

This case is not unique. After learning of Aune’s complaint, Danielle Drake, a lawyer at Parks & Drake, reported that she also tried to move forward with divorce proceedings during her pregnancy because she discovered that her husband was being unfaithful to her, but ended up being prevented by the law. She had to wait for the birth of her son to legally move forward with the separation.

Representative Ashley Aune admits that the basis for the creation of the 1973 law could even be “noble”, in that it facilitated custody agreements and requests for alimony after the birth of the child. However, this law ended up creating obstacles for women, with no official figures that could show how many were affected.

Synergy Services, a nonprofit that supports victims of domestic violence in Kansas, says it receives many requests for help from pregnant women who want to divorce because they are in an abusive marriage, but are prevented from doing so by law. According to Sara Brammer, deputy director of this organization, speaking to Vanity Fair magazine, “families are placed in a delicate position” due to the prolongation of the separation process, which places victims in dangerous situations.

In addition to this law that prevents a pregnant woman from getting divorced, Missouri is also one of the states that banned abortion in 2022, not making exceptions even for cases of rape or incest. “In a state where women are currently forced to carry babies until the end of pregnancy, it is important that they have the capacity to leave a marriage if they wish to do so”, argues Aune.

The deputy presented a bill to reverse this situation, although she does not believe that it will reach the hands of Mike Parson, governor of Missouri, since, even before the vote, he already has strong opponents. After all, Denny Hoskins, a republican congressman from that state, told The Kansas City Star that he was against changing this law: “Just because a husband and wife don’t get along, or have irreconcilable differences, I don’t consider that to be a reason to divorce during pregnancy.” Still, he admits that exceptions could be made for cases in which violence is proven.

Matthew Huffman, who works at a foundation supporting domestic violence victims in Missouri, tells Fox4KC that the change in the law proposed by Aune “could save lives. Many abusive partners use coercion and reproductive control to keep their partners pregnant and prevent them from getting a divorce.”

A 2023 report from the Missouri Department of Health reveals that, between 2018 and 2022, homicide was the third leading cause of death during pregnancy, with all of these cases having a current or former partner as the perpetrator.