What!? Yes, it’s true. The Missouri Republican party has joined ranks with the left to assault traditional family values and drive more constituents into poverty and on to social programs, THAT YOU PAY FOR!

Perhaps that’s not a completely fair statement because I have it on good authority that some Democrats are not buying into the destructive policy being proposed by the two Republicans state reps to destroy women and families.

So, here’s the scoop.

This latest legislative trend is an attack on the culture of traditional family on steroids, and Republican politicians are buying into it, hook-line-and-sinker. You also have to consider that perhaps it’s having such success because we have been exposed to a slow-boil conditioning to accept this concept for decades.

On December 5, 2018, Representative James Neely of District 108 in Clinton County Missouri profiled HB 194 and on December 12, 2018, Lynn Morris of District 140 in Christian County profiled HB 254.

On Tuesday I testified before the House committee on Families and Children against HB254. This bill further dismantles the the foundation of the traditional family structure by blatantly attacking women after divorce in restricting maintenance awards.

I know most folks cringe at family court/divorce issues but before you jump ship, hear me out. This movement is going to cost you big. You need to stick with this. It’s not just about maintenance awards in family courts. Here’s the gist of what HB254 would do.

“4. The duration of any maintenance order shall not exceed the length of the marriage.”

So, if you’re able to think outside the box and beyond how much money you would save if you were a man divorcing a woman every couple of years, without the consequence of divorce maintenance you might begin to understand how this not only furthers the degradation of marriage, but it may possibly leave young mothers in the lurch every time a man decides to bolt after a short marriage leaving his ex wife and children behind. Again, without consequence.

And women in longer marriages, while receiving slightly longer maintenance, if they can get it, are left without provision of rebuilding a life if they sacrificed careers to be wives and mothers. The reality is that women don’t often get maintenance awards in marriages under 10 years and if they do get awards they aren’t much to begin with. So their contributions to marriages are already being devalued without the help of HB254.

But that’s not the worst of it.

The Committee of Children and Families didn’t think HB254 was comprehensive enough so they are rewording the bill to more closely resemble HB194 which is much more damaging, with a surprisingly blatant disregard toward women and the contributions they make to family and marriage.

It introduces “bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, or durational” maintenance to current statute and requires a specific designation in the divorce decree. The first two are much more minimal in amount and duration and “durational” would be awarded even less frequently than it is now.

Presently most marriages over 10 years are eligible for a maintenance award, IF you can get a judge to order it. That’s the problem. Most won’t and if they do they are minimal and often short in duration.

“For purposes of determining maintenance, there is a rebuttable presumption that a short-term marriage is a marriage having a duration of less than seven years; a moderate-term marriage is a marriage having a duration of seven years or more but less than seventeen years; and a long-term marriage is a marriage having a duration of seventeen years or more.”

There is a litany of hoops to jump through and standards to meet in order to receive the maintenance lest it be revoked for “non-compliance.

Additionally there is an escape hatch for the payer of maintenance for “exigent circumstances” but non for those receiving it. So if “exigent circumstances” keep women from meeting benchmarks, … too bad.

“For purposes of this subsection, “exigent circumstances” shall mean a physical or mental disability or other compelling substantial impediment to earning sufficient income to provide for the spouse’s minimal reasonable needs.”

Additionally, maintenance can be terminated if a woman enters into a “supportive relationship” without marrying.

And the grand-daddy of all legal windfalls? Lawyers are gonna love this because it guarantees a litany of new court actions if passed. Can you say boondoggle?

“For purposes of modification of prior orders establishing maintenance, the standards set forth in this section shall be applicable to all initial actions and modifications decided after the effective date of this section.“

So, it’s easy to see this legislation is stacked against women since they are the ones most often awarded maintenance in divorce, if they can get a judge to order it anymore.

Even if you’re not sympathetic to women who have sacrificed to devote themselves as wives and mothers getting the raw deal in divorce, you might at least consider what it does to them as they try to pick up the pieces after they are dumped by their exes and the family courts.

Many more women and children will now slide into social programs, funded by the state, to make ends meet in raising children or just trying to keep body and soul together.

The truth is, family courts have been discriminating against women for decades. Most judges don’t think their worth measures up if they didn’t contribute in a monetary way during the marriage. This legislation certainly punctuates that.

And let’s address why it is that Republicans in the Missouri legislature are pushing women off into the deep end without a life preserver.

The GOP party platform espouses support of traditional family and marriage. Unless of course you can ditch the wife in favor of a younger better model, without consequence. What-the-hell if she helped you through school, start your business, had kids, and took care of your home, right? Marriage is a crapshoot and you just never know how things will end up. And women should know that, right?

Folks, there even less consequence for men who decide to ditch their wives and families for whatever reason they conjure up. And just who do you think is going to pay for all those stranded women and children when they do?

That’s right! YOU!

Do you have children? What are you going to teach them about marriage, commitment? If reps. Lynn Morris and Jim Neely have anything to say about it, you won’t have a positive picture to present them. They’ve willingly greased the skids to flush the culture of family and marriage down the toilet.

Here’s how you reach Neely and Morris. Let them know what you think of their attitudes toward women and families and their abandonment of the GOP platform that they are supposed to support.

Other things that should be on your radar as far as family and marriage are concerned:

Ulterior Motives? Divorce Groups May Do More Damage To Marriage And Family Than Good

The Equal/Shared Parenting After Divorce Scam: Follow The Money

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