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Divorces are on the rise in the capital and a new report has revealed that politics is a big part of the reason.
More couples in Washington, DC are ending their marriages over political differences, a local lawyer told Axios DC this week.
City divorce lawyers Cheryl New and Jessica Markham said they were seeing an increase in divorces due to political differences, regardless of whether the couple worked in the political field or not.
“[It’s no longer] “The question, ‘Who do you want for president?’ extends into a lot of other areas, including how you should interact with your spouse,” New told Axios.
Maria Simon, an attorney, also told the outlet that the trend may be linked to tensions surrounding the upcoming presidential election. “As long as the country is in this situation, it’s impossible for it not to cascade down to a more micro level and affect people’s marriages,” she said.
In one case, New explained, she was representing a liberal client who was seeking a divorce from her husband, whom she considered a moderate conservative, because he had begun to lean toward more far-right ideology, including his refusal to approve of the January 6 riots at the Capitol.
Markham said she has seen similar trends: She told Axios that some of her clients have used social media posts that reflect their ex-partners’ “extreme pro-gun” stances or spread “fake news and conspiracy theories” to win custody battles.
Many of these couples have other issues as well, New said, but political differences can be the deciding factor.
“There’s been a lot of straw before, but the camel is still hanging there. [before politics factored in]”New told Axios.
CNN reported earlier this year that divorce rates are falling and marriage rates are rising across the country.
But divorce has become a hot topic among Republicans, some of whom have called for the repeal of no-fault divorce, a law that exists in all 50 states that allows couples to get divorced without having to prove that one party did anything wrong.
According to NBC News, politicians including former Trump Cabinet member Ben Carson and House Speaker Mike Johnson have called for an end to no-fault divorce, arguing it hurts children and is “immoral.”
Senator J.D. Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate, has also said that divorce is too easy in the United States.
“I think that’s one of the great tricks that the sexual revolution played on Americans: ‘Yeah, yeah, these marriages may have been fundamentally violent, but they were unhappy, so if we get rid of those marriages and make it easier for people to change their spouses like they change their underwear, people will be happier in the long run,'” Vance said in 2021.
But others argue that no-fault divorce is an important policy to prevent domestic violence and protect children.
“No-fault divorce is incredibly important, especially to women’s ability to be independent in their own relationships and in their own lives,” said Dennis Lieberman, a professor at the University of Washington School of Law. Parents In June.
Without no-fault divorce laws, “family matters would be harder to prove in court because there would be no witnesses,” said Kimberly Wehrle, a professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law.
“Evidence that proves child abuse is very difficult to obtain,” Wehle said. Parents“How do you do that? Do you put kids on the witness stand?”
