Lawmaker Pulls Bill To Delay Divorce

DENVER (CBS4)- A Colorado lawmaker who had planned on introducing a bill that would have made it harder for married couples with children to get a divorce has changed his mind.

Republican Sen. Kevin Lundberg's bill, the Parental Divorce Reduction Act, would have required parents with children under 18 to take 6 hours of classes on how the separation would impact their children. They would have had to pay for the classes themselves.

Now he's pulling the bill and will not introduce the legislation when the State Legislature begins its session on Wednesday.

Lundberg told CBS4 that he is trying to figure out the appropriate way to deal with it because of the amount of comments he received in recent days.

"I trust we've started a discussion that can bring us to some better policies in the future," said Lundberg.

A statement on Lundberg's website reads, "The reaction to just the prospect of introducing this bill has been extraordinary. Many have applauded its intention and the effect it could have had on their lives and our culture. One Denver TV station ran a story on the bill which included a mom who had the courage to say on camera it might have helped her in a divorce she had endured.

"Others have reacted in the opposite way. They have told me their personal stories of how they had already exhausted every avenue, for the sake of their kids, and now, faced with the reality of a divorce, just needed to get it over with and move on. More time and instruction would just be more government invasion into a private, and very painful part of their personal lives."

Lundberg's bill would make exceptions in cases of sexual abuse or violence.

A similar bill failed in 2001.