A study that tracked the effects of No-Fault Divorce laws for decades found some pretty remarkable impacts on the lives of women.
When women could freely leave abusive marriages without the burden of having to be “granted” a divorce by judges, clergy, or their husbands, domestic violence, female suicide, and even spousal murder dropped significantly.
And yet the white Christian nationalists who lead our government want to end no-fault divorce. Andra Watkins goes a step further: she says they want to end divorce altogether. Several states already have legislation in the works to do just that. Texas is one of them, even though an overwhelming majority of divorces are no-fault.
Look at that last number. 70% of divorces filed in Texas are filed by women. Under WCN guidelines, any woman who files for divorce would have to be approved. In many cases, the law states that both people in the marriage have to agree to the divorce.
Yes. That’s right. A man can abuse his wife, and then block her from leaving the marriage so that he can continue abusing her.
Sam Osterhout and Andra talk through the massive implications of this in this week’s episode, and also explain how the SAVE Act works to ensure that women will not even have the ability to vote against the men who will keep them enslaved to abusers.
