{"id":8889,"date":"2026-03-10T15:16:35","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T20:16:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/bill-clarifying-womens-right-to-divorce-while-pregnant-heads-to-missouri-governor\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T15:16:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T20:16:35","slug":"bill-clarifying-womens-right-to-divorce-while-pregnant-heads-to-missouri-governor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/bill-clarifying-womens-right-to-divorce-while-pregnant-heads-to-missouri-governor\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill clarifying women\u2019s right to divorce while pregnant heads to Missouri governor"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n

State Rep. Cecelie Williams, a Republican from Dittmer, testifies before a House committee during the 2025 legislative session. (Tim Bommel\/Missouri House Communications).<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Missouri Senate unanimously approved <\/span>legislation<\/span><\/a> Tuesday clarifying that pregnant women can get divorced, making it the first non-budget bill to be sent to Gov. Mike Kehoe this year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The bill, filed by state Reps. Cecelie Williams, a Republican from Dittmer, and Raychel Proudie, a Democrat from Ferguson, also received <\/span>unanimous approval in the House<\/span><\/a> last month.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Williams, a domestic violence survivor,<\/span> first shared her harrowing story of being denied the finalization of a divorce while pregnant <\/span><\/a>when she presented identical legislation last year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe number one cause of death in pregnant women is homicide,\u201d Williams told the Senate Families, Seniors and Health Committee on Monday. \u201cAnd it\u2019s from partner violence. If we could prevent that by allowing women to leave when they want, we absolutely shouldn\u2019t be creating barriers in situations like that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

One in six women who experience abuse<\/span><\/a> are first harmed during pregnancy, according to estimates by the March of Dimes.<\/span> Homicide is the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in the <\/span>United States<\/span><\/a> and among the leading causes in <\/span>Missouri<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u2018Shockingly unique\u2019: Why St. Louis program for antepartum moms is getting national attention<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

While nothing prevents Missourians from filing for divorce while a party is pregnant, the current statute is interpreted by many courts as preventing the final dissolution of marriage from being issued until after the child is born, so that a custody agreement for that child can first be put into place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The same bill died at the eleventh hour last session after it was returned to the House with an <\/span>amendment<\/span><\/a> proposed by state Sen. Mike Moon, an Ash Grove Republican, that would have required the total alimony amount received be reduced by the amount collected in social security.<\/span><\/p>\n

Williams on Monday reiterated her belief that the bill will prevent some abortions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhere in anything that we stand for as Missourians would we ever allow a woman to have to make that decision,\u201d she said, \u201cto save herself and to sacrifice her child.\u201d<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

State Rep. Cecelie Williams, a Republican from Dittmer, testifies before a House committee during the 2025 legislative session. (Tim Bommel\/Missouri House Communications). The Missouri Senate unanimously approved legislation Tuesday clarifying that pregnant women can get divorced, making it the first non-budget bill to be sent to Gov. Mike Kehoe this year.\u00a0\u00a0 The bill, filed by…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8890,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nBill clarifying women\u2019s right to divorce while pregnant heads to Missouri governor - WestplexNews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/bill-clarifying-womens-right-to-divorce-while-pregnant-heads-to-missouri-governor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bill clarifying women\u2019s right to divorce while pregnant heads to Missouri governor - WestplexNews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"State Rep. Cecelie Williams, a Republican from Dittmer, testifies before a House committee during the 2025 legislative session. (Tim Bommel\/Missouri House Communications). The Missouri Senate unanimously approved legislation Tuesday clarifying that pregnant women can get divorced, making it the first non-budget bill to be sent to Gov. 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