In the past year, several states across America have been advocating bill that supported shared parenting and Missouri was among those states. Now, the state's shared parenting bill, HB 1550, will finally enacted as a law starting on Aug. 28.
Due to several studies about the benefits of shared parenting after a divorce and the burgeoning cases of parental alienation, Gov. Jay Nixon and the Missouri Government finally signed the shared parenting bill, turning it into a law. Missouri's shared parenting law, which unanimously passed the Senate, will allow ex-couples to have an egalitarian approach to child custody and visitation.
Deemed as the most advantageous approach for children's well-being, not to mention the positive impact on parental and gender equality, the shared parenting law will be more child-centered. According to emissourian.com, Rep. Kathryn Swan stressed that the courts will no longer follow the default custody order instead, it will allow parents to develop and create a parenting plan that will best suit the needs of a child or children.
Missouri's HB 1550 aka shared parenting bill was reportedly supported in the House 154-2. It was also comprehensively studied and deliberated by a subcommittee, which was headed by Missouri Bar Family Law Section Council chairwoman Patricia Scaglia.
Meanwhile, National Parents Organization (NPO) strongly praised Gov. Jay Nixon and the government of Missouri for approving the shared parenting bill as a law. NPO founder Dr. Ned Holstein said that the shared parenting law will finally eliminate the tragic heartaches and suffering of divorce and separation, as well as the obsolete family courts' approach of sole custody by promoting equality and co-parenting.
Unfortunately, Missouri's shared parenting law was also plagued with skepticisms. As a matter of fact, Ohio University parent-child relationships and divorce experts Dr. Donald A. Gordon and Dr. Jack Arbuthnot highlighted the fact that shared parenting may not be effective for every family situation despite its promising benefits, The Missouri Times revealed.
Moreover, feminist organizations such as the National Organization for Women, also opposed the shared parenting law. The reason? The shared parenting approach may lead to "forced custody arrangements," not to mention limit the parental plans in cases of high conflicting families.
Missouri is not the only state that passed the shared parenting law. In fact, the governments of Utah, Minnesota and South Dakota have also passed the same legislation. Florida, on the other hand, opposes the shared parenting approach, Parent Herald previously reported.
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