- cross-posted to:
- missouri@midwest.social
- cross-posted to:
- missouri@midwest.social
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.
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Alright, so it’s quite obvious to me now that the US government is full of people with a breeding kink and it’s enough to make bills pass, what happened to sexual deviance diversity!
I could absolutely see many of them being in favor of forced birth for ordinary non-sexy reasons.
If you are so broken that you think society’s first priority is the growth of you and your buddies’ investments, then it’s not much of a leap to support shitty ways to keep the working class growing.
Everyone needs to realize white supremacists have disguised themselves as Christians to push white supremacy ideology. These are not Christians
This looks like words straight out of the Bible to me. Any Christian saying this isn’t Christianity is the one that isn’t a true Christian.
A true follower is so rare as to be virtually extinct. Think of these church mega pastors with hundred million dollar net worths. What would jesus do with that money? Probably give it all away to feed starving children all around the world. Every penny, probably to the point of only having two articles of clothing and driving around in a van lol. Christians are such hypocrites.
Also, he probably would’ve voted for Bernie haha. Not kidding though.
jesus wouldn’t have it in the first place and that is the sole and only point. To have accumulated dragon-level wealth is to have been an evil fucker. Period!
Nor be they Scottsmen
No many of them are. They just don’t represent all chsitians.
Yeah, no, fuck that. christianity is completely at fault here, from the raping of children to the rape of democracy and the cocksucking of the cheetoh. Fuck you for yet more pretending
You have as much hate in your heart as they do. I know several Christians, they’ve all maintained the same character and demeanor as they always have. Every single one acts the same. Did Christians suddenly change or did white supremacists join their ranks and try to blend in?
Ahh, so we’re going to play the Christian version of “no true Scotsman”?
I have two problems with this. (1) Logically speaking that can’t be true. The guy who wrote the bulk of the Constitution was a Christian. Sure you can argue that the government had non-Christian voices like Jefferson but it’s not like the US had a Hindu majority (or something) at the time. (2) It would be easier to understand what went wrong with Evangelism and right wing media then to try to get the majority of the country to hate Christianity. Don’t divide the people over religion; you force them to live by their words.
They absolutely are and Christians were much worse towards women before social progress forced them to change their official positions or become irrelevant.
It is now apparent that they never really changed their ideas.
They absolutely are true christians.
Just divest yourself from religion, it’s only used for corruption
I’ve never been religious
Isn’t this a TV series on netflix… Oh yeah The Handmaid’s Tale…
I adore a lot of individual Americans. Some of the best people I know have lived their entire lives in the USA. But for the last 20 or so years official US policy decisions are harder and hard to agree with and this is an example of that. So many US citizens are better than their system - they really need to demand a change to politicians/justice systems/etc that better represent them.
Our nation is infested with conservatism. If history is our guide, the cure for this disease is not peaceful.
This Christofascist shit is getting out of control. On what planet is a woman staying with her abuser a good thing? What do you think is going to happen to her child if she stays?
If a pregnant woman is wanting a divorce, you can be certain of two things: 1) there’s a reason for it, and 2) that reason is none of your fucking business. The party of small government, ladies and gentlemen.
it’s been out of control for 40 years since thatcher and reagan. that was its origin and those are the mistakes that need fixing - shitting on education and health care, shitting on mental health, shitting on doing anything the right way because it’s not “the american way”. honestly fuck america.
Most conservatives around the world claim that they want to be small government, but really what they want is to control everything everybody does and if it all possible thinks. They literally are the opposite of conservatism.
Maybe you should consider whether conservativism has ever meant what they said it meant, considering its historical positions of defending theocracies, monarchism, slavery, and fascism.
On what planet is a woman staying with her abuser a good thing?
the same one where a rape victim is forced to give birth to that rapists child.
And, if these Nat-Cs get their way, the biblical rule that a rapist must marry his victim will probably become actual law.
A government that’s just small enough to fit through your front door and rule your personal life.
America is in its death throes. Republicans and Christians are choking her and the rest of us are just standing around wondering if anyone is going to step in and help.
The judicial branch was bought, the executive branch probably in on it and/or out of touch, the legislature branch is half circus half Corp sponsored… ya we have a 3 way and not that fun holiday vacation consensual kind…
Missouri is crazy. Its the absolute cheapest state to live in that has legal weed. Sounds like a liberal paradise right? Wrong, they still occasionally make the news for doing the same kind of shit Texas or Russia would do. So are they liberals or fascists? Schrodingers box of political alignment.
“Small government” has been redefined by conservatives. When a democrat says small government, they mean they don’t want regulation in every part of their personal life.
When a conservative says they want small government, they mean they want a government big enough to oppress minorities, but too small to ensure those minorities have their rights respected.
That mentality is also largely why conservatives get so up in arms about the norm being shifted, and new things getting normalized. Because the conservative mindset is entirely focused on conforming to the norm, and excluding those outside of the norm. So if the norm changes, they believe they need to change to fit the new norm or they’ll suddenly find themselves excluded.
It’s why they get so upset about minor shit like blue hair or piercings; As they begin to see it normalized, they begin to think “will I be forced to get piercings or dye my hair just to conform?” They explicitly support changes to the norm that already confirm their worldview and habits, because that further entrenches them as the protected norm. But they rabidly oppose the normalization of anything that doesn’t fit.
So if you’re a white married hetero couple with two kids, that’s what you’ll support. No divorces allowed, because we’re married and can’t normalize divorce. No blue hair allowed, because we’re Wonder Bread white and have never dyed our hair, and therefore can’t allow anything but natural hair colors. No abortions allowed, because childfree couples are a threat to our norm. No gay marriage, because we’re hetero and can’t shift the norm away from that. No drug decriminalizing, because the occasional bottle of wine has always been enough for us and we can’t normalize anything else. Et cetera, et cetera…
What do you think is going to happen to her child if she stays?
The kid is going to become a neglected ignorant bigoted right-winger. Mission accomplished.
tardmerica strikes again
who can stop them in their spree of retardation??
you can. buy guns.
Build guillotines
I don’t particularly like calling christofascists that. They know exactly what they are doing.
This isn’t new - it’s the case in multiple states and has been for a while. The justification is that usually the husband is assumed to be the “father” for the purpose of the birth certificate. It’s bullshit but Y’all’queda has been running Missouri for a loooong time
What is wrong with these people?
We need to start an organization that helps to rehome any woman in one of these states to a state with sane laws.
I feel truly sorry for the women who have been brainwashed since birth to agree with these laws that subjugate them, and continue to vote for the people passing them.
Horrible law but I don’t really get what it does in reality. I guess guarantees the husband is on the birth certificate?
Divorce takes a long time, and I don’t see why you couldn’t get permanently separated and move out for the duration of the pregnancy, do exactly the same things as you would do divorced. They can’t force you to live in the same house.
I guess there’s financial coercion, if you need child support to pay for things for the kids you wouldn’t get it until a divorce is finalized. And you wouldn’t be able to buy a house while legally married or it would get tangled up with the divorce.
Like I said, bad law, but the impacts seem a bit muted by the fact that you can’t actually force someone to stay in a relationship.
If you’re still legally married, your abusive husband still has full custody rights to your children, for one thing.
No. Hard no. What in the world makes you think that?!
American law
Yes, he does. What in the world makes you think otherwise? Parents have equal and open custody without an order otherwise.
Another state to avoid at all costs.
Bringing the total to fifty.
It’s a law that perfectly demonstrates why religion needs to be completely separated from state affairs.
They simply do not want children born out of wedlock.
They also don’t want children that results from adultery. They allow abortions for that. Wait, wait. Sorry, that’s just the bible.
What the actual fuck is wrong with these people? They aren’t even trying to hide the endgame here.
I guess it’s time for blue states to start negating residency requirements for divorce. Just another step towards balkanization.
What even is the endgame here though?
So I get conservatives want many babies but without providing any care or (especially) pay, perfectly fuels their pockets this way. But how does this work to their advantage? You just get more abuse this way. How the fuck does that help in their baby factoring scheme?
the endgame is when they start saying “well I didn’t think they were gonna do that” and acting all innocent as their fascist rhetoric turns the country into a fascist hellhole thanks to their violent dipshittery
if yall dont start killing them, i have no pity for you. there is no other way.
Seriously? The endgame is clear. Reduce access to education, force people to have kids that will be born in that environment and raise an ignorant neglected bigoted class that is easily controlled and manipulated.
What even is the endgame here though?
Suffering. Suffering is the endgame. They get off by causing those they feel are lesser to suffer as much as they can.
Never assume that there’s an endgame. Some people just like watching others suffer.
Life is a journey, not a destination. <3
/s
What even is the endgame here though?
Control. Power. Compelled obedience.
Broken homes feed into the prison-industrial complex, the only remaining form of slavery currently allowed in our country? It’s not just about the babies. You need to make sure they end up poor, desperate, and too broken to hope for better as adults.
It’s easier to manipulate uneducated people into voting against their interests as well, so they want them poor and uneducated
Biblical law.
Why the hell is America such a backwater shithole? Like the education system in my country is deeply flawed, but at least we don’t have religious zealots.
Perpetuating the cycle of poorly educated religious zealots from a shithole backwater
at least we have strong free speech laws and quite a few states have good self-defense laws. some good, some great, but there’s a handful of states that are terrible about any kind of self defense that involves killing a home invader
In quite a few places, you can’t use force to remove a trespasser if they decide to camp on your land.
Imagine being so delusional, you think those are unique or even worse… Needing those. You fantasise about murdering someone, how about Living in a place where that’s not even a consideration? I don’t have to worry about someone invading my home and having to defend myself. 3rd world countries are safer than your sorry excuse of a nation.
Every state allows lethal force to protect yourself within your home. It’s a GOP talking point lie that states don’t allow you to defend yourself.
Well, who needs bodily autonomy when you can just use slurs without repercussion. I really don’t get why you try to reason with free speech or self defense laws against against this intrusion of your actual freedom.
Being forced to keep a pregnancy going and then being forced to stay in marriage won’t get better when you can legally say whatever you want or shoot someone trespassing on your land…Imagine that - if someone camps on your land, you can just call the police. They will guide the trespasser out and initiate proceedings.
And yet, many (if not most) women who defend themselves from their abuser with a firearm get convicted on murder charges… mostly in the states you mention as having “good self-defense laws”.
And that’s something else that makes a lot of the world look at America like a backwater shithole. Feeling the need to be able to kill other people - that might be important to many Americans but from the outside looking in it seems ignorant and barbaric.
It’s because the majority of the people, which are people who do not like this stuff, are also complacent as fuck and will tolerate just about anything if it means they don’t actually have to get off the fucking couch.
We’ve transitioned from ‘off the couch’ to 'grinding every waking moment to survive and are too tired to care about getting involved in local politics after you just got off shift at your second job ’
As ridiculous as this law is, it seems like the article makes out that not being able to get divorced means more domestic violence but I don’t quite understand the implication. You can still move out/leave whether a piece of paper says you’re married or not, right?
H returned to the house she shared with her abuser, sleeping in her child’s room on the floor and continuing to face violence
Why did she return? So if she was told she could get divorced would she have returned?
Because leaving a relationship is the single most dangerous time for an abuse victim. Remaining married and not having divorce proceedings in place gives your spouse rights that can let them find and control you more easily if you try to leave. It’s safer to keep it secret into you can take necessary steps.
Very likely the reasons were financial. With multiple kids, depending on how much she works, she could sue for child support/alimony if she was divorced. But if she’s not divorced, he might control all the finances.
Good point, I didn’t think about that aspect
Divorce opens up legal options. She may not be able to legally move out of state for example.
I’m sure there are plenty of couples where people live separately for a period time because of work, how can the law prevent someone from just moving?
Five minutes ago I would have asked how a law can possibly ban divorce during a pregnancy. Never ever give Republicans the benefit of the doubt.
Good point.
I feel like I got a little heated, but that wasn’t intended to be directed at you. Stay safe, wherever you live 🙂
Inability to separate finances/custody arrangements for current children. Ability for your spouse to make medical decisions for you.
Remember, we’re talking about people who are already at risk of violence.
Because pressure can be applied if you are not divorced, through kids, through money, through property laws, etc. If you take the kids with you and move away, is it kidnapping? Are you going to take that chance of the abuser finding a sympathetic cop in one of these states? Property is usually considered communal in marriage, so if the abuser takes the car it isn’t ‘theft.’ What if the abuser takes the dog and has it put down? Even if the abuser had to travel to where you are, had to take the dog by sneaking into the house you’re living in now, and had to take the dog to a vet who was out of the area so they didn’t know the abuser (and thus what they were doing), it wouldn’t be breaking the law because the dog is technically both of the married individuals’ property. You can’t prevent the abuser from picking up the kids from their school. The list goes on.
Think of a way an abuser can twist the thumbscrews, and if there is not a divorce, and thus complete legal separation, the law (and I mean the legal rules, not cops by that) either shields them or ignores the issue when they are twisting down. By the by, none of these scenarios are made up. I’ve seen each one during my brief time working with families that have abusers.
Another flyover State…but it’s Boeing so I ain’t going.
Let me guess: also one of those states where you can’t charge your spouse for rape either.
