A bill seeking to clarify that Missouri women are legally allowed to get divorced while pregnant received unanimous approval Thursday from the House for the second year in a row.
State Rep. Cecelie Williams, a Republican from Dittmer who sponsored the legislation with Democratic state Rep. Raychel Proudie of Ferguson, emphasized the dangers of keeping women legally tied to abusers for an extended time.
"This bill will protect the lives of women and children who have been subjected to abuse," Williams told her colleagues during House debate Thursday. "It is about offering survivors like me the chance to find safety, to begin healing and to reclaim the life that was stolen from them."
Applause broke out when the bill passed with no opposition.
Williams, a domestic violence survivor who said a judge refused to finalize her divorce while she was pregnant with her fourth child, shared her story of abuse on the House floor last year. Her words moved some of her colleagues to tears.
While nothing prevents Missourians from filing for divorce while a party is pregnant, the current statute is interpreted by many courts as preventing the final dissolution of marriage from being issued until after the child is born, so that a custody agreement for that child can first be put into place.
State Rep. Ken Jamison, a Democrat from Gladstone, said after hearing Williams' gripping testimony last year, he took an informal poll of about five judges and five attorneys who had a combined 200 years of experience practicing family law in Missouri.
Jamison, who is also an attorney, asked if they believed Missouri law prohibited courts from finalizing a divorce while a woman is pregnant. Half said yes; half said no.
"This bill is going to provide clarity to them and ensure that pregnant women have the individual choice to finalize a divorce if they're pregnant," Jamison told The Independent.
While the bill would apply to anyone, survivors of domestic violence have been at the heart of the conversation.
"Pregnancy can be an especially risky time for a woman experiencing domestic violence, as many women reported that abuse started or intensified when they became pregnant," Jessica Hill is the Chief Public Affairs Officer for the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence, testified before a House Chilcren and Families Committee last month.
One in six women who experience abuse are first harmed during pregnancy, according to estimates by the March of Dimes. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends women be screened for signs of intimate partner violence during doctor's visits since those experiencing abuse often see any violence escalate during pregnancy or postpartum.
Homicide is a leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in Missouri and nationwide.
Rose Gattas, who presides over the board of a women's shelter in Hannibal, told the House committee that she's seen instances of abuse, including financial control, emotional abuse and physical violence, intensify when an abuser learns a woman is pregnant.
Gattas said the law strips women of dignity and agency by removing a critical legal exit.
"Ending this prohibition does not encourage divorce," she said. "It simply allows the law to respond to real circumstances with compassion and common sense."
Danielle Drake, a family law attorney based in Lake Ozark, said she's never seen a judge who will sign off on finalizing a divorce when a pregnancy is involved. She has a handful of clients in this situation now.
In one case, she said, the couple has been trying to finalize their divorce for four years. The woman has been pregnant twice in that time and wants to re-marry, and the man has a child with a new partner who he's engaged to.
"It just prohibits them from moving on and from being able to be the best parents or the best co-parents they can," said Drake, who advises clients against buying houses or vehicles until the divorce is finalized.
It creates a logistical nightmare for families who want a divorce sooner, she said, emphasizing that her support for the bill is support for families having a choice.
A few years ago, Drake was told she and her then-husband couldn't get divorced until after her son was born. If allowed to choose, she probably would have waited until after her son was born to finalize the divorce, allowing her to stay on her spouse's health insurance and to more quickly create a custody plan.
But that choice was made for her, and that didn't sit right.
Last year, the same legislation died on the final day of session on the House floor after the bill was returned with an amendment proposed by state Sen. Mike Moon, a Republican from Ash Grove, that would have required the total alimony amount received be reduced by the amount collected in social security.
"We would be allowing women to get a divorce while pregnant, but then handcuffing them by alimony restraints," Williams said of the amendment, which she said was nicknamed the "I hate my ex-wife bill" by some members of the House.
Williams is confident the bill will get to the governor's desk this year.
"This law has to change. It kept me in a marriage far too long," Williams said. "Being a domestic abuse survivor, it takes a woman, or anyone, seven times to leave their abuser. It took me many more than that. When I finally had the courage to leave, and to be told that you can't get a divorce was incredibly heart-breaking."
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