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February 9, 2001 - Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating had a question for economists: What is one of the things holding the state back economically? The answer surprised him. "They told me: 'You've got too many divorces and you better do something about it,'" Keating recalled. In many Oklahoma counties, he discovered, divorces were outpacing
marriages 2-1."Those statistics are staggering," Keating said. "To have that much divorce in a 'believing state.' And I'm talking about a state where 70 percent of the people go to church twice a month or more. Those were scalding statistics." The economists tied the divorce rate directly to higher poverty, teen drug abuse and school dropout rates. Keating's solution? Make it harder to get in and out of marriage.
"If we can reduce the incidents of divorce by a quarter, by a third, by a half; if we can encourage people to know what they're doing before they sign a marriage contract, to work through their problems and not just throw up their hands and walk away — then we will have done a lot for the children of that marriage and we will have done a lot for society," Keating said.
Oklahoma already has invested $10 million on marriage Initiatives. The state has set up counseling and education programs for couples, and is working with the religious community to make pre-marital counseling a requirement for marriage.
Keating, a Republican, is also pushing to get rid of no-fault divorce, the current law in which spouses can simply say they don't like each other anymore and get an easy divorce. "With children especially involved, I think you ought to have some tangible, concrete reasons to walk away from a marriage contract," he said.
Oklahoma is not alone in its efforts to buttress the institution of marriage. Florida now requires marriage-education for public high school students. Louisiana and Arizona have both approved covenant marriage programs, in which couples voluntarily impose limits on their ability to divorce. Keating's critics say government has no business trying to legislate good marriages. Atlanta attorney Martin Huddleson says that making it harder to divorce will only create more work for divorce attorneys like him.
"I don't know what interest the state has in keeping a couple together that doesn't want to be together," said Huddleson. "It may trivialize couples' problems to suggest that going to a course before they get married or making it more difficult to get out is going to solve the problem of too many divorces."
But Oklahoma's governor remains determined. "Marriages that fail prematurely and without cause impoverish the people involved and impoverish the whole state — and that's bad," Keating said. "We're not saying divorce is never gonna happen, but when the stats are this high for divorce, surely we can do better. And that's what we're working on." [ Source: http://foxnews.com/national/020901/marriages.sml ]
Colorado Divorce Bill Requires Counseling Tampa Tribune - DENVER - February 25, 2001 - When Georgine left her husband of 10 years, she was 29 and bruised and battered from nine years of abuse.
Georgine, who asked that her last name not be used, is one of hundreds of domestic-abuse victims alarmed by a proposed bill in the Colorado Legislature that would require them to undergo a year of marriage counseling before a divorce would be granted.
Although the measure would exempt victims of physical or serious psychological abuse, that exemption would not have applied in Georgine's case because there was no police record of abuse. She said many women share her plight because they are afraid to come forward and confront their attacker.
"Why should I have to wait a year to get a divorce? I don't want the state telling me I have to stay in a relationship another year." she said. The sponsor of the bill, state Rep. Dave Schultheis, said the mandatory couseling would help parents realize the impact of divorce on children. Yhe bill, which is up for hearings before a House Committee this year, is considered likely to pass the Republican House but to have trouble in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
Several other states have divorce legislation pending, but those bills would require counseling before marriage. "The problem today is that couples can get out of marriage quicker than they can get out of a Tupperware contract," Schultheis said. House Minority Leader Dan Grossman does not believe the state has the authority to interfere in the personal lives of people involved in divorce. "I'm not convinced it's helpful for the children if hey are exposed to parents who hate each other and no longer want to live together," Grossman said.
NOTE: What we have a problem with is "Psychological Counseling." God invented marriage between one man and one woman and it seems to us if any type of counseling is engaged in it should be Biblical Counseling. It is the only counseling that works.