Missouri lawmakers move to end divorce barriers for pregnant women

By Siobhan Harms, KOMU 8 Reporter

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    JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri (KOMU) — Women who are seeking a divorce in Missouri have to disclose their pregnancy status — and if they are pregnant, their divorce can be declined. House bills 243 and 280, which were perfected in the House Monday, would change that by preventing courts from using pregnancy status as a reason to not dissolve a marriage.

The identical bills, HB 243 and HB 280, are sponsored by Rep. Cecelie Williams, R-Dittmer, and Rep. Raychel Proudie, D-Ferguson, respectively.

The bills repeal Sections 452.305 and 452.310, and replace the sections with 452.305 and 452.310. These new sections are virtually identical to their previous counterparts except for this statement: “Pregnancy status shall not prevent the court from entering a judgment of dissolution of marriage or legal separation.”

In a study published in 2022, researchers from Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health found that women in the U.S. who are pregnant or who have recently given birth are more likely to be murdered than to die from obstetric causes — and these homicides are linked to a deadly mix of intimate partner violence and firearms.

On the House floor, Williams spoke about her experience with her abusive ex-husband. She detailed an incident where he took a baseball bat to her face, breaking her left jaw and orbital bone.

“I remember my three children sleeping next to me that night because we were all so scared, but an image that never escapes my mind is their little blood soaked footprints on the hardwood floor as they walked around me trying to help pick up their mommy off the floor,” Williams said.

She said when she finally gained the courage to leave, Missouri law prevented her from finalizing her divorce.

“I knew I needed to protect myself and I needed to protect my children, but under Missouri law, I was unable to dissolve my marriage because I had just found out that I was pregnant,” Williams said. “The emotional, psychological and physical pain I endured didn’t stop just because I was carrying our fourth child. It would seem, from my perspective, that the law didn’t care that I was safe.”

In her closing remarks to lawmakers on the House floor, she urged people on both sides of the aisle to vote “yes” on the bill.

“It’s about safety, dignity and healing of women and children who have been subjected to abuse,” Williams said. “It is about offering women like me the chance to finally escape not only the abuse but the legal shackles that keep us trapped. No woman should be forced to remain in an abusive marriage, especially while pregnant.”

The bill was perfected unanimously, and Williams was given a standing ovation for her testimony.

Proudie, who is also a victim of domestic violence, praised Williams’ courage and described her as a “warrior.”

This isn’t the first time this bill has been attempted. Similar bills were introduced in 2023 and in 2024.

“I’m glad that we’re getting it out early enough so that it has an actual chance of passing and that we are actually doing something for individuals who are confined in this situation,” Proudie said.

Proudie said she was certain lawmakers could agree on this piece of legislation. She said that previous iterations of this bill have not become law due to Senate in-fighting, which has prevented House bills from moving through the legislative process.

This year, in anticipation of this, Proudie said lawmakers in the House are working to push priority legislation out sooner than in previous years.

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