I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 9196 
To prohibit consideration of pregnancy status when filing for divorce. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 30, 2024 
Mr. CLEAVER (for himself, Mrs. FOUSHEE, Mrs. PELTOLA, Ms. LEE of Cali-
fornia, Ms. BROWNLEY, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. JOHN-
SON of Georgia, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. CASTEN, 
Mr. TRONE, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. THANEDAR, Ms. MCCOL-
LUM, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. 
OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. DAVIS of North Carolina, Ms. ROSS, Ms. ADAMS, 
Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Mrs. FLETCHER, Ms. CROCK-
ETT, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To prohibit consideration of pregnancy status when filing 
for divorce. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pregnancy Empower-
ment Act of 2024’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds as follows: 
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(1) Throughout calendar year 2024, national 
news media reported that several States, in practice, 
will not finalize a divorce for pregnant people. 
(2) Many States, in practice, delay, prohibit, or 
limit divorce until the baby’s delivery, allowing the 
court to determine paternity status and parental 
rights. 
(3) Non-Invasive Prenatal Paternity (NIPP) 
tests can now determine paternal status with blood 
samples from the mother and alleged father and 
achieve an accuracy rate of 99.9 percent. 
(4) Pregnant people are at an increased risk of 
experiencing intimate partner violence. 
(5) Women of color are disproportionately im-
pacted by domestic violence and are more likely to 
die at the hands of an abuser. 
(6) Black women are murdered by men at three 
times the rate of their white counterparts. 
(7) Black women living with a partner are six 
times more likely to experience domestic violence. 
(8) An estimated 324,000 pregnant people ex-
perience intimate partner violence in the United 
States per year. 
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(9) When reported and detected, prevalence of 
intimate partner violence during pregnancy can 
range as high as 35 percent. 
(10) Reproductive coercion can prevent women 
in abusive marriages from finalizing a divorce, keep-
ing women in abusive relationships. 
(11) One in 6 abused women were first abused 
during pregnancy. 
(12) Homicide is the second leading cause of 
traumatic death for pregnant and recently pregnant 
people, accounting for 31 percent of maternal injury 
deaths. 
(13) Women living in poverty are twice as likely 
to experience intimate partner violence. 
(14) People experiencing intimate partner vio-
lence often rely on the emergency room due to finan-
cial concerns and coercion and control from their 
abusers. 
(15) Divorce has a profound economic impact, 
often implicating interstate commerce and assets. 
(16) The median American divorce costs $7,000 
and the average American divorce costs $15,000. 
(17) Contested divorces involving child custody 
debate can cost over $100,000. 
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(18) Of the $27.4 billion reported by the FY 
2022 Office of Child Support Services Preliminary 
Data Report, $1.4 billion came from interstate 
cases. 
(19) Divorces dissolve many financial assets, 
many of which may cross State lines, including— 
(A) real estate; 
(B) outstanding debts; 
(C) investments; 
(D) retirement savings; 
(E) property; and 
(F) business interests. 
(20) Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the U.S. 
Constitution provides Congress the power to regulate 
interstate commerce. 
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION AGAINST CONSIDERATION OF PREG-
NANCY STATUS WHEN FILING FOR DIVORCE. 
No State may take pregnancy status into consider-
ation when considering the filing of a petition for divorce. 
Æ 
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