Missouri governor signs bill banning judges from delaying divorces when a spouse is pregnant

By Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN

(CNN) — Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe on Tuesday signed into law a bill banning state judges from delaying divorce proceedings because a spouse is pregnant.

The measure, HB 1908, which passed unanimously in both the state House and Senate, will modify a state measure enacted in the 1970s requiring couples to disclose “whether the wife is pregnant” — a fact that often led judges in the state to prevent a divorce from being finalized.

Missouri state Rep. Cecelie Williams, a Republican who sponsored the bill, told CNN affiliate KOMU the original measure aimed to simplify matters like child support and custody agreements but also put spouses in dangerous situations if they were in abusive relationships.

HB 1908 states “pregnancy status shall not prevent the court from entering a judgment of dissolution of marriage or legal separation.”

Williams, who has publicly shared how she tried to finalize her divorce from an abusive spouse while pregnant about two decades ago, said at the signing ceremony that changing the state measure was a priority for her since the day she decided to run for office.

“I feel incredibly thankful that people listened to my story and understood the effects that this barrier has on women who are trying to escape their abusive relationships,” Williams told CNN earlier on Tuesday.

The Republican governor first learned about how the original measure had impacted Williams’ life when they met last year and said he almost started crying at the time.

“It hit home with me,” said Kehoe, explaining his mother and siblings experienced domestic violence and his father left the family after the governor was born.

Abuse – both verbal and physical – often worsens in pregnancy, according to infant and maternal health nonprofit March of Dimes.

Before HB 1908 was signed into law, Missouri was among a handful of states, including Texas, where divorce proceedings are frequently paused by judges during a spouse’s pregnancy.

Kehoe signed two other bills Tuesday concerning the state’s juvenile criminal system and criminal penalties for child sex trafficking.

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