Pregnant? Delay Divorce

Appeals Court Upholds Judge Who Put Brakes On Splitsville

(AP)  In a case that outraged women's rights groups and prompted a change in state law, an appeals court has sided with a judge who voided a woman's divorce because she was pregnant.

The appeals court ruled Spokane County Superior Court Judge Paul Bastine was correct in vacating the divorce order because Carlos Hughes and the state had not been properly notified of Shawnna Hughes' pregnancy.

"Requiring Ms. Hughes to fairly give due notice and an opportunity to be heard to Mr. Hughes and the state will cause delay," the appeals panel wrote Tuesday. "But, just delay is not justice denied."

Bastine's November ruling cited a state law that says marriages cannot be dissolved in such cases until the paternity of the unborn child is established, so the state knows who should pay child support.

In divorce papers served on Carlos Hughes and state child welfare officials in 2004, Hughes said she was not pregnant. She later amended the documents to note the pregnancy, saying Hughes was not the father. Her baby girl was born in March 2005.

Carlos Hughes, who was in jail serving a sentence for domestic violence when Shawnna Hughes filed, did not contest the divorce. The amended papers were not served on him or the state Department of Social and Health Services.

The case was taken up by the American Civil Liberties Union and more than a dozen women's rights and domestic-violence prevention groups, which filed friend-of-the-court briefs after Shawnna Hughes' lawyers appealed.

The case prompted a change in Washington state law, which now prohibits judges from denying or delaying a divorce solely on the basis of pregnancy.

Shawnna Hughes' lawyer, Terry Sloyer, had argued that a woman should not be forced to remain married just because she's pregnant. In Hughes' case, her husband was under a court order to stay away from her.

The state objected to the divorce because it might leave the state unable to identify a father for repayment of welfare money used to support the child.

It could not be ascertained Wednesday whether the divorce still is on hold.

Shawnna Hughes, a 27-year-old medical assistant, could not be reached for comment.