Remedies to high divorce rate proposed

RANDY KREHBIEL

Tulsa World

State Rep. Mark McCullough wants to make it harder to get married in Oklahoma. State Rep. Sally Kern wants to make it harder to get divorced. The two Republicans — McCullough from Sapulpa, Kern from Oklahoma City — are the latest in a long line to offer solutions to Oklahoma's notoriously high divorce rate. Their proposals follow, among others, former Gov. Frank Keating's Oklahoma Marriage Initiative, a provision discounting marriage licenses for applicants who undergo counseling and several unsuccessful attempts to implement covenant marriage.

"I can understand not wanting to restrain individual freedom, but maybe it's time for the government to get involved," McCullough said. McCullough's measure would require all marriage license applicants to receive at least eight hours of counseling and for parents of minor children to attend counseling before getting a divorce. "I don't think it's unreasonable for couples to spend one day preparing for the most important decision of their lives," McCullough said.

Source: http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=16&articleid=20100119_16_A1_SaeRpa522250