In Missouri, women are allowed to finalize their divorce…unless they are pregnant. A state lawmaker who knows first-hand what this obstacle is like wants to change this.
Rep. Cecelie Williams, R-Dittmer, shared her story publicly during a legislative hearing about her bill. Williams said she left an abusive marriage while pregnant.
She recalled a time when her husband hit her in the face with a baseball bat while her seven-year-old child hid in the corner.
“No woman should ever be forced to stay in a dangerous situation or an abusive marriage because a law keeps her legally bound to a man who does not care about her well-being,” Williams told the Missouri House Children and Families Committee.
The committee has unanimously advanced her bill that would no longer take pregnancy status into consideration when a court is asked to dissolve a marriage or grant a legal separation.
“I am not the only woman who has faced the impossible choice of staying or leaving, especially while pregnant. Domestic violence is rampant and it is often during a pregnancy that the abuse intensifies,” she said.
Her husband killed himself after she left him and took their four children.
“The bill before you today is not just a legal technicality, it is a matter of life and death. When a woman is trapped in an abusive marriage, the risk of further harm is ever present. The law should not force her to remain in the situation where she is at risk, both emotionally and physically,” she said.
Since they were still married, Williams was responsible for her husband’s final expenses.
“I urge you to support this bill. It is not just a matter of legal technicalities,” said Williams. “It is about the lives of women and children who have been subjected to abuse. It’s about offering survivors like me the chance to find safety, to begin healing, and to reclaim life that was stolen from them.”
No one spoke in opposition to her bill.
Another committee is expected to decide soon whether to let the House debate the bill.
For more information about House Bill 243, click here.
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