Video: Mississippi Bill To Include Domestic Violence As Grounds For Divorce Dies

JACKSON, Miss. (WCBI-TV) – Domestic violence will not become one of the grounds for divorce in Mississippi. A bill that would have added it died in committee Tuesday.

It’s a deadline day at the capitol; general bills must get out of the second chamber’s committees. Senate Bill 2703 passed the Senate but the House Judiciary Committee didn’t take it up Tuesday.

Some lawmakers in opposition to this bill and others have said they want the state to encourage married couples to stay together rather than create more avenues for divorce.

Rep. Andy Gipson, chairman of the committee that killed the bill, told reporters Tuesday, “We need to have policies that strengthen marriage. If a person is abusive, they need to have a change in behavior and change of heart.”

Senate Bill 2702 died in the Senate. It would have added separation for three months without intent to return as grounds for divorce. Mississippi has 12 reasons for divorce. They include adultery, impotence and habitual drunkenness.

Many supporters of bills to add more pathways to divorce say the state has outdated laws that put low-income people at a disadvantage, particularly victims of domestic violence. Mississippi and South Dakota are the last two states in the U.S. without a “no-fault” divorce provision, without which one spouse can hold up a divorce for several years.

Mississippi’s divorce rate consistently ranks near the highest in America.

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