{"id":2388723,"date":"2025-01-10T08:05:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-10T13:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/no-fault-divorce-paved-way-for-nys-endorsement-of-infidelity\/"},"modified":"2025-01-10T08:07:28","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T13:07:28","slug":"no-fault-divorce-paved-way-for-nys-endorsement-of-infidelity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/no-fault-divorce-paved-way-for-nys-endorsement-of-infidelity\/","title":{"rendered":"No-Fault Divorce Paved Way For NY&#8217;s Endorsement Of Infidelity"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fno-fault-divorce-paved-way-for-nys-endorsement-of-infidelity%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2388723&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>New York Governor kathy Hochul recently signed \u2064a bill repealing a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/joe-biden-delivers-flood-of-cheap-migrant-labor-to-new-york\/\" title=\"Joe Biden Delivers Flood of Cheap Migrant Labor to New York\">long-standing law<\/a> \u200dthat classified\u200c adultery as a misdemeanor, describing the legislation as &#8220;silly&#8221; and &#8220;outdated.&#8221; \u200cThis repeal follows previous efforts, including the 2010 enactment\u200b of no-fault\u200b divorce under Governor David Paterson, which allowed unilateral divorce without the need to prove wrongdoing. Critics argue that such changes empower individuals who commit infidelity, enabling them to leave marriages without consequences, which can exacerbate the emotional trauma experienced by betrayed spouses. Research indicates that the impact of no-fault divorce on \u200dmental health can be severe, contributing to conditions such as PTSD and depression. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-the-60s-changed-america-for-the-worse\/\" title=\"How The &#039;60s Changed America For The Worse\">author shares personal experiences<\/a> of suffering following betrayal, emphasizing that while laws and societal attitudes have shifted to prioritize \u2063easier divorce processes, they also diminish the value of marriage and the rights of the injured \u2063party. The piece calls attention to the legal and emotional \u2063repercussions of these legal reforms,\u2062 arguing that the state&#8217;s actions reflect a disregard for the pain associated with marital betrayal, contrary to the notion that marriage is a fundamental right deserving of legal protection.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>New York Gov. Kathy Hochul gave cheating spouses an early Christmas present, signing a bill&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/new-york-adultery-law-repealed-81509fdbff222cd3c71765f400b74d2c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">repealing<\/a>&nbsp;a long-standing statute that made adultery a misdemeanor. She called the law &ldquo;silly&rdquo; and &ldquo;outdated.&rdquo; Past efforts to kill the bill and others like it had been shot down for fear lawmakers would be criticized for&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.salon.com\/2019\/05\/06\/adultery-and-fornication-why-are-states-rushing-to-get-these-outdated-laws-off-the-books\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">endorsing<\/a>&nbsp;infidelity. But isn&rsquo;t that essentially what Hochul has done?<\/p>\n<p>Her predecessor Gov. David Paterson made an equally boneheaded blunder that goes hand in hand with Hochul&rsquo;s. In&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/no-fault-divorce-my-fight-to-save-my-marriage\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2010<\/a>, he signed a bill enacting no-fault divorce. Under it, New York became the final state to permit unilateral divorce. In other words, divorce on demand, without proof or cause. Paterson echoed Hochul&rsquo;s sentiment, claiming New York had finally aligned its laws with the &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/08\/16\/nyregion\/16divorce.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">21st&nbsp;century<\/a>.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Before the enactment of no-fault divorce, plaintiffs were required to state a cause of action just like in every other lawsuit. Standard reasons for the breach of the marriage contract included adultery, cruelty, and abandonment. Indeed, research shows a high&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ifstudies.org\/blog\/who-cheats-more-the-demographics-of-cheating-in-america\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">association<\/a>&nbsp;between infidelity and divorce, with estimates of marital infidelity ranging from&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.apa.org\/pubs\/journals\/features\/cfp-0000012.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">20 to 40<\/a> percent. Only betrayed spouses had the right to file for divorce, however, for the simple, logical reason that they were the aggrieved party.<\/p>\n<p>But here&rsquo;s the rub. No-fault divorce laws empowered cheaters to sue for divorce and leave the marriage with impunity, thus rewarding them for their wrongdoing. Although reconciliation can be difficult, many marriages&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.divorcemag.com\/articles\/frequently-asked-questions-about-infidelity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">survive<\/a>&nbsp;infidelity. No-fault divorce not only stripped divorce law of due process, but it also took away the legal choice given to betrayed spouses to try and save their marriages.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Ample research establishes the devastating&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/roomfordebate\/2013\/02\/13\/when-divorce-is-a-family-affair\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">effects<\/a>&nbsp;of no-fault divorce. Betrayal in particular causes deep and abiding&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.verywellmind.com\/betrayal-trauma-causes-symptoms-impact-and-coping-5270361\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">trauma<\/a>, including such health conditions as PTSD, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and eating disorders. I&rsquo;m a 22-year divorce survivor who was diagnosed with PTSD. I still have an occasional traumatic flashback, often aggravated by my work &mdash; two decades of writing about divorce and advocating for reform.<\/p>\n<p>People reach out to me regularly when hit with their own unexpected betrayal. Two wrote to me during the Covid-19 lockdowns to thank me for my article about how I&rsquo;d overcome&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/opinion\/voices\/2019\/09\/29\/suicide-prevention-month-divorce-rates-risk-column\/2430536001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">suicide<\/a>. Like me, they&rsquo;d contemplated it in the middle of the night. By the way, divorced men have a suicide risk factor&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/jech.bmj.com\/content\/57\/12\/993\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">eight times<\/a>&nbsp;that of divorced women.<\/p>\n<p>How dare Hochul call so much pain &ldquo;silly.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Augmenting the injury, compensation for betrayal in divorce court is&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bcntrlaw.com\/blog\/adultery-a-big-word-with-limited-impact-in-divorce-cases\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rare<\/a>. Divorce courts exist for the sole purpose of facilitating family breakdown. And forget sympathy. Judges don&rsquo;t want to hear it. My own judge hauled me into chambers to tell me I needed to find another partner like my husband had. <\/p>\n<p>My experience is not unique. People in our culture take their cues from our laws and leaders. Today, their standard line to friends going through divorce is to move on and get over it.<\/p>\n<p>Yet the U.S.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/constitution.congress.gov\/browse\/essay\/amdt14-S1-6-3-5\/ALDE_00013819\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Supreme Court<\/a>&nbsp;has repeatedly held that marriage is a fundamental right. The New York Senate reiterated that right as part of the state&rsquo;s public policy when it passed the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nysenate.gov\/legislation\/bills\/2011\/a8354\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Marriage Equality Act<\/a>, stating: &ldquo;Marriage is a fundamental human right. &hellip; Stable family relationships help build a stronger society.&rdquo; These are mere hollow words given the lack of laws and policies that stand behind them.<\/p>\n<p>State laws condemning adultery have been slower to come off the books than fault-based divorce laws. But New York and other states now striking them down weren&rsquo;t&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.salon.com\/2019\/05\/06\/adultery-and-fornication-why-are-states-rushing-to-get-these-outdated-laws-off-the-books\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">enforcing<\/a>&nbsp;them anyway. What if they had been? Would betrayal have become as normalized in our culture as it has? <\/p>\n<p>Every time I turn around I read about another book glamorizing&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/list\/show\/11205.Best_Books_for_Polyamory\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">polyamory<\/a>,&nbsp;even for couples who have children. The marriage rate is at an all-time&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/short-reads\/2017\/09\/14\/as-u-s-marriage-rate-hovers-at-50-education-gap-in-marital-status-widens\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">low<\/a>. Hollywood stars are practically awarded medals of honor for their indiscretions. It&rsquo;s fair to say the amount of publicity ink spilled over Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie did more to enhance their lucrative careers than their acting skills.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, infidelity is big business. Look at Ashley Madison. The <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">multi-million dollar online pimp business<\/a> that started in 2001 currently boasts&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/noticias.foxnews.com\/us\/ashley-madison-gambling-peoples-lives-security-breach-exposed-millions-users-former-vp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">85 million<\/a>&nbsp;subscribers. The company&rsquo;s trademarked slogan claims: &ldquo;Life is short. Have an affair.&rdquo; To that, I&rsquo;d add this important Disclaimer: &ldquo;But don&rsquo;t forget, hell is forever.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Maybe criminalizing adultery isn&rsquo;t the best 21st-century approach to shoring up marriage, especially given the exorbitant cost of living. After all, incarcerated spouses can&rsquo;t work to pay for groceries. But these laws were enacted to serve the worthy goal of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/newyork\/news\/new-york-adultery-law-repealed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">deterring<\/a>&nbsp;divorce. That became harder to accomplish, if not impossible, once no-fault divorce swept the nation, resulting in a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalaffairs.com\/publications\/detail\/the-evolution-of-divorce\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">doubling<\/a>&nbsp;of divorce rates.<\/p>\n<p>Under these circumstances, perhaps keeping adultery on the books in New York would have been no more than a crumb to betrayed spouses. But it was still a crumb of recognition. Hochul swiped that crumb away and left nothing in its place, not even a word of comfort.<\/p>\n<p>What else could she have done? Plenty. Refused to sign the bill for starters. If she truly cared about the welfare of betrayed spouses and their families, she could have told legislators that she wouldn&rsquo;t sign the bill until laws were also in place to guarantee compensation to betrayed spouses in divorce lawsuits. <\/p>\n<p>She could have endorsed legislation repealing no-fault divorce. Clearly that wasn&rsquo;t going to happen, but she could have recommended that legislators add moderate bipartisan legislation like the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/divorcereform.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Bullet-Points-PDF.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Parental Divorce Reduction Act<\/a>&nbsp;to help ailing couples and their children. She could have spoken out against infidelity and the harmful consequences of divorce. She could have demanded legislation requiring cheaters to pay for the mental health expenses of betrayed spouses.<\/p>\n<p>Need I go on? Her inaction speaks volumes.<\/p>\n<p>Sure affairs happen. Sure everyone makes mistakes. But whatever happened to promoting healthy marriages and reconciliation, and heaven forbid, doing the right thing? Remaining faithful to your marriage is a choice too. So is leading with integrity and courage. Too bad Hochul chose not to.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Beverly Willett is co-founder of the Coalition for Divorce Reform and a former lawyer. She is the author of &ldquo;Disassembly Required: A Memoir of Midlife Resurrection.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hochul&#8217;s new law effectively endorses infidelity<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2799,"featured_media":2388724,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Copy-of-Untitled-2025-01-02T144539.709.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[41041,18531,47790,48258],"class_list":["post-2388723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-divorce-reform","tag-infidelity","tag-new-york-law","tag-no-fault-divorce"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Copy-of-Untitled-2025-01-02T144539.709.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2388723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2799"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2388723"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2388723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2388727,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2388723\/revisions\/2388727"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2388724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2388723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2388723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2388723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}