--- description: Find out why the Mississippi House of Representatives killed a bill that would have added domestic violence to grounds for divorce. title: Mississippi House Killed a Bill That Would Have Made Domestic Violence Grounds for Divorce image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb1cdbc3e8fce188b/6988bc77cf40a8175fc46a74/mississippi-state-capitol.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [motto](/tag/motto/) ## motto Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Mississippi House Killed a Bill That Would Have Made Domestic Violence Grounds for Divorce  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 1, 2017 6:03 PM CUT  UNITED STATES - AUGUST 14: A cannon sits in front of the Mississippi State Capitol building, Aug. 14, 2007, in Jackson, Mississippi. (Photo by Suzi Altman/Bloomberg via Getty Images) UNITED STATES - AUGUST 14: A cannon sits in front of the Mississippi State Capitol building, Aug. 14, 2007, in Jackson, Mississippi. (Photo by Suzi Altman/Bloomberg via Getty Images)Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 1, 2017 6:03 PM CUT The Mississippi House of Representatives killed a bill that would have added domestic abuse to the state’s grounds for divorce. [The _Clarion-Ledger_ reported](http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/28/house-kills-divorce-law-reform-without-vote/98519448/ "undefined") that [Republican](http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/members/house/gipson.xml "undefined") state Rep. Andy Gipson, the chairman of the House Judiciary B Committee, killed [a bill](http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2017/html/SB/2700-2799/SB2703PS.htm "undefined") that would allow domestic violence as grounds for divorce in the state. The bill was [previously approved](http://www.sunherald.com/news/state/mississippi/article135434279.html "undefined")by the State Senate. “Given our high divorce rate in this state, the floodgate is already open — we don’t need to completely tear it down,” Gipson said about the bill, according to the _Clarion-Ledger_. Gipson argued that the bill didn’t define domestic abuse narrowly enough and that spousal violence was already covered by the “habitual cruel and inhuman treatment” grounds. “To me the way it’s worded could possibly be interpreted that if someone raised their voice at their spouse, is that domestic assault?” Gipson said, according to the _Clarion-Ledger_. “If that’s the case, then a lot of people would have a ground for divorce in Mississippi.” [Republican](http://sallydoty.com/about-sally "undefined") State Sen. Sally Doty, who authored the bill, said she was “disappointed” that the committee killed the proposal. “I’m sure it’s even more disappointing to those victims of domestic violence who are out there in the state of Mississippi that need some help getting out of a marriage,” Doty said, according to the _Clarion-Ledger._ Mississippi has one of the strictest set of divorce laws in the country and is one of only two states, [according to the](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/20/no-fault-divorce-mississippi/98153328/ "undefined") _Clarion-Ledger,_ that lacks a unilateral “[no-fault” divorce provision](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0ahUKEwiQi-aH8LXSAhWBQSYKHTBTAhwQFggmMAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.scfamilylaw.com%2Fsouth-dakota-lawmakers-pass-unilateral-divorce-law&usg=AFQjCNEcLXQPLlPlMg7B%5Fz554VoVHrBp2w&sig2=mDlZWshFG%5FdnVHSRQTJDMA "undefined"). (South Dakota is [the other state](http://www.argusleader.com/story/news/politics/2015/02/26/house-votes-unilateral-fault-divorces/24046649/ "undefined")). That means that one partner can delay a divorce if he or she doesn’t want one. The state currently has 12 grounds for divorce, which include adultery, habitual drunkenness or drug use, natural impotency and habitual cruel and inhuman treatment. The state has the seventh highest divorce rate in the nation, [according to a 2016 study](http://www.bgsu.edu/content/dam/BGSU/college-of-arts-and-sciences/NCFMR/documents/FP/anderson-divorce-rate-us-geo-2016-fp-16-21.pdf "undefined") from [the National Center for Family & Marriage Research](http://time.com/4575495/divorce-rate-nearly-40-year-low/ "undefined"). Last year, a similar bill that would have added domestic violence as a reason for divorce in the state died in the House and Senate conferees, [according to the _SunHerald_](http://www.sunherald.com/news/politics-government/article73376587.html "undefined")_,_ after lawmakers added a divorce ground that allowed for willful separation with no intent to return to the marriage. “Victims of domestic violence suffer from our current divorce system,” Sandy Middleton, director of the Center for Violence Prevention, said, according to the _Clarion-Ledger._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4686485/mississippi-domestic-abuse-divorce-bill-fails/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4686485/mississippi-domestic-abuse-divorce-bill-fails/"},"headline":"Mississippi House Killed a Bill That Would Have Made Domestic Violence Grounds for Divorce","datePublished":"2017-03-01T18:03:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:04:59.472Z","description":"'Victims suffer from our current divorce system'","url":"https://time.com/4686485/mississippi-domestic-abuse-divorce-bill-fails/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb1cdbc3e8fce188b/6988bc77cf40a8175fc46a74/mississippi-state-capitol.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb1cdbc3e8fce188b/6988bc77cf40a8175fc46a74/mississippi-state-capitol.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A cannon sits in front of the Mississippi State Capitol buil","caption":"A cannon sits in front of the Mississippi State Capitol buil","creditText":"Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4686485/mississippi-domestic-abuse-divorce-bill-fails/","name":"Mississippi House Killed a Bill That Would Have Made Domestic Violence Grounds for Divorce"}}]}] ```