U.S.

Colorado's Debatable Divorce Bill

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

March 8, 2001 / 11:23 AM EST / CBS

Colorado legislators are considering a bill Thursday mandating that parents who want a divorce must first complete at least one year of counseling, reports CBS News Correspondent Lee Frank.

But a Republican lawmaker who opposes a GOP colleague's proposal to require couples to undergo a year of counseling after filing for divorce has come up with a compromise she hopes could keep the bill alive.

Rep. Dave Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs, had proposed House Bill 1342 to force couples to consider the effect divorce could have on their children before they could split up.

Critics, including Rep. Debbie Stafford, R-Aurora, said the bill proposed a costly government intrusion into personal lives.

"I appreciated the intent but it stunk and I said I was going to do everything in my power to help kill the bill," Stafford said.

A recently divorced father who's in counseling says it couldn't save his marriage and didn't help his ex-wife. He opposes forced counseling.

"The state is doomed to failure in expecting they can dictate that another person will be ready to come to the table."

The measure is scheduled for a hearing Thursday before the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee. The bill has been nicknamed the "Dr. Laura" because Schultheis has invited radio talk-show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger to testify by phone.

But critics of the proposal and of Dr. Laura, say they don't need advice from a divorced entertainer who posed for nude pictures and had an affair with a married man.

A scheduling conflict could keep the controversial talk show host from testifying, even by phone.

The bill also faced strong opposition from Democrats, domestic-violence victims, advocates and some other Republicans.

Schlessinger urges couples to stay together because she says divorce is devastating for children. Her critics and opponents of Schultheis' bill argue that a bad marriage can be even worse than divorce for children.

Stafford said her compromise has won Schultheis' support, and said she has the backing of several women's groups.

"The truth of the matter is, you can't force a relationship," she said.

Under her compromise, couples with children who file for divorce or legal separation would be required to undergo up to six hours of free counseling that focuses on how divorce affects children.

Gov. Bill Owens said Monday he would support the compromise as long as counseling is provided for free by churches and charities.

"I don't think we can assume it would be paid by the government," Owens said during his monthly interview on KOA-AM radio.

Stafford, a former church pastor who works as a domestic-violence counselor, said the class she envisions under her proposal would be designed to educate parents.

"When you're getting a divorce, you are so into your own pain you're not even thinking about your kids' pain," she said.

Under her compromise, to be offered as a amendment to the bill, the classes would be provided in each judicial district by marriage and family therapists, psychologists, social workers or counselors using a curriculum developed by the state Board of Marriage and Family Therapist Examiners.

Parents would not have to take the class together, and if one partner failed to complete the counseling, a judge still could grant a divorce, Stafford said.