There’s a renewed effort to allow pregnant women in Missouri to finalize divorces.
Current law allows them to file for divorce, but they cannot be finalized while they’re still pregnant. State Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern, D-Clay County, is sponsoring the Missouri Senate version of the proposal.
“Yeah, unfortunately this is one of them that got stuck in the log jam at the end of session (last year) and unfortunately it was in those final days when it was brought to the Senate floor,” she told Missourinet. “So this unfortunately was one of the really good bills that fell victim to the end of session.”
The Missouri House of Representatives passed last year’s version of the bill in late February, which supporters had hoped would give the Senate enough time to debate and pass it. Nurrenbern said getting it passed is crucial to protecting women in abusive marriages.
“We’re going back to situations that are just incredibly harrowing,” she said. “I cannot imagine that what a woman experienced who’s living in a domestic violence situation, and again, you know, these women are just trying to do the best for themselves and for their kids, for their future children.”
The House version of the bill is sponsored by State Rep. Cecelie Williams, R-Dittmer. She also sponsored last year’s bill and was herself pregnant while seeking a divorce.
“An incredible woman,” Nurrenbern called Williams. “(She) has an incredibly courageous story, but she is a survivor of domestic violence and this was her lived reality that she wasn’t granted a divorce despite being in a very abusive relationship.”
Both Williams’ and Nurrenbern’s bills are waiting to be scheduled for public hearings in the Missouri Senate and House.
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