How a decades-old Missouri law makes it harder for pregnant women to get divorced

Chaimae Chouiekh · CBC Radio

· Posted: May 07, 2024 4:57 PM EDT | Last Updated: 17 minutes ago

If a pregnant woman in Missouri tried to file for divorce today, she would probably be told by her attorney to "come back when she's not pregnant," says a Democratic lawmaker.

Ashley Aune, a Missouri state representative, is fighting to get a decades-old law off the books that forces women to disclose their pregnancy status while filing for divorce — something advocates say is harming women experiencing domestic violence.

"If you can keep a woman pregnant, you can keep her married," Aune told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. 

What is this law?

The 1973 law was initially intended to ensure that a mother and her child were provided for after divorce. But in practice, advocates say it's barring pregnant individuals from legally ending their marriages. 

It is drawing renewed attention at a time when women in the U.S. have less access to reproductive rights. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned two years ago, more than a dozen states have banned or restricted access to abortion. 

Missouri has stopped nearly all abortion services, including in cases of rape and incest.

The law does not explicitly prohibit finalizing divorces while pregnant. But several women, speaking on condition of anonymity, told NPR and the Guardian that their lawyers explicitly told them they could not file for divorce until their babies were born.

Advocates say this could facilitate reproductive coercion, which involves behaviours intended to manipulate or control someone else's reproductive decisions.

Aune says, in 2024, "it makes absolutely no sense to tie [women] to someone legally."

"There are ways in which people are keeping their partners pregnant or messing with their birth control or access to abortion," she said. "All of these things are happening."

In response, Aune has filed House Bill 2402, which would repeal the current law, and states: "Pregnancy status shall not prevent the court from entering a judgment of … dissolution of marriage or legal separation."

The bill has two Republican co-sponsors, Reps. Jeff Farnan and Sherri Gallick, but is still encountering resistance in the Republican-dominated legislature. 

Denny Hoskins, a Missouri Republican state senator, told the Kansas City Star it would be acceptable for women experiencing domestic violence to be granted a divorce while pregnant, but he is not in favour of changing the law.

"I think that those would be very rare and infrequent circumstances," Hoskins said. "Just because the husband and wife are not getting along, or irreconcilable differences, I would not consider that that would be a good reason to get divorced during a pregnancy."

Hoskins did not respond to a CBC request for comment before deadline.

Survivors of domestic abuse have nowhere to go

Dr. Sarah Brammer, vice-president of domestic violence services at Synergy Services, an organization that works with survivors of domestic violence in Missouri, says his law has been weaponized to restrict women's freedom.

"It is used to further trap women in relationships and control their choices," Brammer said.

Brammer says that this law only adds another obstacle for women trying to leave abusive marriages, on top of the existing housing affordability crisis in Kansas City.

"You're attached to this abusive partner through your pregnancy, but also through children in custody, for the rest of your life," Brammer said.

"At the same time, you've got all of the barriers that have been put into place because of your history of domestic violence and trauma."

Missouri's current legislative session ends next week, and Aune says her bill is "unlikely to pass" before then. 

What's more, she says it's challenging for Democrats to pass any legislation in Missouri's Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Aune says she's hoping that a more refined version of her bill might pass in Missouri's next January legislative session.