No-Fault Divorce Laws Violate Constitutional Rights and Should Be Challenged
Source: Beverly Willett. "Divorce Laws Shouldn't Punish Spouses Fighting To Save Marriages." May 5, 2026. thefederalist.com
The Gist
The author argues that no-fault divorce laws are unconstitutional because they let one spouse force a divorce on an unwilling partner, violate religious freedom, and have destroyed families across America. She believes these laws should be challenged in court because they deny basic rights and have created a greedy divorce industry that profits from breaking up families.
Conclusion
No-fault divorce laws are unconstitutional and should be legally challenged because they violate fundamental rights and cause widespread harm to families and society
Premises
- No-fault divorce laws discriminate against spouses who want to preserve their marriages by allowing unilateral divorce without cause
- These laws violate due process rights because defendants in divorce proceedings never win and lack sufficient procedural safeguards
- No-fault divorce infringes upon deeply held religious beliefs about marriage permanency, violating First Amendment protections
- Marriage is a fundamental right protected by the 14th Amendment and derived from natural law
- No-fault divorce has caused catastrophic social consequences including poverty, suicide, depression, substance abuse, juvenile delinquency, and family breakdown
- The current system creates a profit-driven $50 billion industry that benefits from breaking up families
- Many people are divorced against their will, with courts systematically favoring spouses who abandon their families
Assumptions
- Marriage should be permanent and dissoluble only for serious cause
- Religious beliefs about marriage permanency deserve constitutional protection
- The state has no compelling interest in facilitating easy divorce
- Correlation between no-fault divorce and negative social outcomes implies causation
- Courts and lawyers are primarily motivated by financial gain rather than justice