Among the more unheralded advancements in women’s rights in America was the advent of “no fault” divorce laws. Some version of “no fault” divorces exist in all 50 states, and they work pretty much how it sounds. If you are unhappy in your marriage, you can file for divorce. That’s it. If you’re annoyed your husband wears Crocs and socks everywhere he goes, you can divorce him, and he can’t really do much about it. Granted, there may be litigation over property division and child custody, but the dissolution of the marriage is essentially a done deal.

So why would this be a women’s rights issue?

In the bad old days, women could be smacked around, cheated on and abused in other ways and still not get divorced. In other words, they would be trapped in bad marriages with little recourse. In the bad old days, they would have to prove in court abuse, infidelity, abandonment or other misconduct before getting a divorce. As a former attorney, I can tell you that proving any of that would be costly and time consuming, especially during a time when the average American woman did not have a lot of earning power. Couple that with the fact that juries tended to be dominated by men, and you had a situation where married domestic abuse victims went to trial with the deck stacked against them.

That all started to change about 50 years ago when states began passing laws allowing for “no fault” divorces. You’ve probably read about high-profile divorces in which the couple was splitting due to “irreconcilable differences.” That basically means, “I don’t want to be with him/her anymore.” Given the rates of abuse and infidelity in this country, it’s no surprise that two-thirds of all divorces are initiated by women. While I would never advocate for divorce, I respect the idea that couples should be entitled to a fresh start when the relationship just isn’t working anymore. I also shudder at the idea that abused women would be trapped in a marriage they can’t get out of. Citing research conducted in states that adopted “no fault” divorce laws, a recent Rolling Stone Magazine article noted that “reform led to dramatic drops in the rates of female suicide and domestic violence, as well as decreases in spousal homicide of women.”

Unfortunately, the Radical Right Wing Party is taking aim at abused women once again by trying to outlaw “no fault” divorces. Would you be surprised if Idaho’s Radical Right Wing Party followed suit?

The attack is already underway.

The Radical Right Wing Party of Texas — our second largest state — added language to their party platform last year to eliminate “no fault” divorces. Radical Right-Wingers in states like Louisiana and Nebraska are pursuing similar platforms. How big of a stretch would it be for Idaho — which has one of the highest divorce rates in the nation — to follow suit?

Based on the current Idaho Radical Right Wing Party Platform (adopted July 16, 2022), there is no specific provision calling for the elimination of “no fault” divorces. However, the language currently in place steps awfully close to that line. For instance, the platform asserts that “Many of the ills of society can be attributed to the breakdown of the family.” It goes on to oppose any government role (like divorce courts?) in the “disintegration of the family.” To be fair, those are very general proclamations that can be interpreted in many ways. However, given the direction Idaho’s Radical Right Wing Party is going, is it a stretch to envision a world where they essentially tell Idaho women stuck in abusive marriages to suck it up and ride it out? Either that, or spend whatever resources they have fighting it out in court?

Let freedom ring.

I am eternally grateful my parents have been married for over 50 years. As a former Bankruptcy Trustee, I’ve seen how divorce can rip apart families. Money and divorce often go hand-in-hand. I believe, like most of you, that children thrive the best in stable, two-parent households. But I would never support laws forcing women (and some men) to stay in bad marriages for the sake of some ideology that doesn’t work in a country where marriage is basically a coin-flip.

American women are under attack yet again. Will that fight wash up on Idaho’s shores?

It’s not crazy to think it could.