Ben Carson, who is often touted as Donald Trump’s potential running mate, has released a new book in which he calls for an end to no-fault divorce laws in the United States.
“For the sake of families, we should enact legislation to remove or radically reduce the incidence of no-fault divorce,” Carson writes in “The Perilous Fight,” published Tuesday.
“The reason this is important is that no-fault divorce legally allows marriages to end much more quickly than in previous decades. When there are relatively few legal or financial consequences associated with divorce, it is natural for people to opt for this option when their marriage hits a difficult patch,” he adds. “However, what these people often don’t consider is the harm – present and future – inflicted on their children when the divorce is finalized.”
The Trump campaign did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment. Trump himself has been divorced twice.
Starting in 1969, when then-California governor Ronald Reagan signed the first no-fault divorce law in the United States, no-fault divorce has allowed millions of people to end their marriages because of “irreconcilable differences,” or without having to prove spouse misconduct – such as adultery or domestic violence.
Before these laws, which now exist in every state, divorces were rarely granted and only under strict criteria. The laws are credited with promoting women’s financial independence and security.
Since then, research has shown that no-fault divorce correlates with reductions in domestic violence and suicide rates among women. A 2015 study found that women are more likely than men to initiate divorce.
Carson joins a growing list of conservative politicians and commentators who argue that no-fault divorce degrades the American family unit.
In a 2016 sermon, now-House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., listed no-fault divorce laws as one of the causes that turned the United States into a “completely amoral society.” Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, another Republican who is often considered a potential Trump running mate, also said he believes divorce is now too easy.
“That’s one of the big tricks that I think the sexual revolution played on the American population, which is the idea of, like, ‘Well, OK. These marriages were fundamentally, perhaps even violent, but they were certainly unhappy, and so getting rid of them and making it as easy for people to change spouses as they change underwear will make people happier in the future. long term,’” Vance said in 2021 on a video obtained by Vice News. “Maybe it worked for moms and dads, although I’m skeptical. But it didn’t really work out for the children of those marriages.”
Although neither Johnson nor Vance introduced legislation at the national level to reverse no-fault divorce, steps were taken at the state level. The official GOP platforms in Texas It is Nebraska call on their state legislatures to rescind no-fault divorce laws. And in Oklahoma, a Republican state senator legislation introduced in January to abolish no-fault divorce laws, although the bill was not passed.
Carson’s book largely advocates a return to traditional, conservative family values. In addition to his push to end no-fault divorce, he calls for a national abortion ban, for men to “take on leadership responsibilities” in families, and for cuts to welfare for single mothers in order to encourage marriage.
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