Gov. Mike Kehoe on Tuesday signed legislation into law that clarifies a woman’s pregnancy status should not be used to prevent courts from granting divorce or legal separation.
HB 1908, sponsored by Reps. Cecelie Williams, R-Dittmer, and Raychel Proudie, D-Ferguson, and Sen. Jill Carter, R-Ganby, modifies provisions relating to the dissolution of marriage or legal separation and pregnancy status.
“If we are serious about protecting life, we must also be serious about protecting vulnerable women and mothers,” Kehoe said. “House Bill 1908 ensures that pregnancy is never used as a barrier to prevent a woman from seeking a divorce in unsafe situations. I appreciate Rep. Williams for her leadership and courage in sharing her story, and thank the General Assembly for its unanimous support of this important legislation.”
Williams is a first-term representative who is a domestic violence abuse survivor. She first introduced the bill last year, but it died on the Senate floor due to a last-minute amendment attachment.
The bill quickly advanced this year and unanimously passed in both the House and the Senate.
Williams has shared her story on both the House and Senate side, explaining how she was pregnant with her fourth child when she decided to leave her abuser – only to be told pregnant women could not divorce in Missouri.
“The number one cause of death in pregnant women is homicide, and it’s from partner violence,” Williams told the Senate Families, Seniors and Health Committee on March 9. “If we could prevent that by allowing women to leave when they want, we absolutely shouldn’t be creating barriers in situations like that.
“I look at this as pro-life legislation, as well, because if I would have chosen that day to go and have an abortion, I could have come back hours later and filed for divorce. Where in anything that we stand for as Missourians would we ever allow a woman to have to make that decision to save herself and to sacrifice her child. That’s something I could never imagine, but definitely something we shouldn’t put on someone to have to make that decision.”
The governor signed two other bills into law Tuesday:
SB 888, sponsored by Sen. Nick Schroer and Rep. Brad Christ, modifies provisions relating to the criminal systems.
HB 2273, sponsored by Rep. Ed Lewis and Sen. Jill Carter, modifies and establishes provisions relating to the protection of children and vulnerable persons.