The statute, which can lead to reproductive coercion in a state that has banned abortion, has recently gained nationwide attention

The statute, which can lead to reproductive coercion in a state that has banned abortion, has recently gained nationwide attention

At six months pregnant, H decided enough was enough. She had endured years of abuse from her husband and had recently discovered he was also physically violent towards her child. She contacted an attorney to help her get a divorce.

But she was stopped short. Her lawyer told her that she could not finalize a divorce in Missouri because she was pregnant. “I just absolutely felt defeated,” she said. H returned to the house she shared with her abuser, sleeping in her child’s room on the floor and continuing to face violence. On the night before she gave birth, she slept in the most secure room in the house: on the tile floor in the basement, with the family’s dogs.

Under a Missouri statute that has recently gained nationwide attention, every petitioner for divorce is required to disclose their pregnancy status. In practice, experts say, those who are pregnant are barred from legally dissolving their marriage. “The application [of the law] is an outright ban,” said Danielle Drake, attorney at Parks & Drake. When Drake learned her then husband was having an affair, her own divorce stalled because she was pregnant. Two other states have similar laws: Texas and Arkansas.

  • candyman337
    397·
    9 months ago

    I think we should stop pitting states against each other in a race to the bottom and see this for what it is: working class people having their rights taken away by the wealthy elite. The more we are divided the easier it is to do this type of thing. The politicians are doing this, not the people. And they have set up and continued to prop up a system that under educated voters, while also underpaying them and blaming it on anyone else they can do everyone is mad at everyone. We need to stop blaming each other and band together and force them to fix it.

    • swab148@startrek.website
      202·
      9 months ago

      Thank you. Being a Texas resident, I’m not especially happy when I hear stuff like “all Texans are delusional”, a lot of us simply don’t have a choice in the matter of where we live. Some of us are trying to make this a better place to be, but it takes time and we’re constantly blocked by rich assholes clinging to power like their lives depend on it (and they probably do at this point). Class consciousness is lifting up the less fortunate, don’t put us down for laws and policies we had no say in creating.

    • teamevil@lemmy.world
      1·
      8 months ago

      Missouri was a shit state before this Trainwreck bullshit… nothing about it is redeeming… literally the entrance to the worst parts of this country.

      That all being said your argument is correct 💯.