Joy Reid claims Missouri is a 'slave state as far as being a woman is concerned' 

MSNBC's Joy Reid claimed on Wednesday that Missouri "is a slave state as far as being a woman is concerned" and that pregnant women were "property" of their husbands in the state. 

Addressing guest Claire McCaskill, a former US Senator from Missouri, Reid said, "And you've left off, Claire, that in your state, it's illegal for a pregnant woman to get an abortion. So, they've also gone after no-fault divorce. So, if you're pregnant and you're in a marriage with an abusive spouse, you can't even get a divorce once you become pregnant. You become the property of both your husband and the state. They have joint ownership of you in the state of Missouri. That is a slave state as far as being a woman is concerned, as far as I'm concerned." 

"Back when that was put into law, it was to try to hold people accountable for the babies they had fathered. But in this day and age, everybody needs to understand that what it does keeps a woman in a marriage that could be abusive, just because she's pregnant, which is absolutely unacceptable," McCaskill responded. 

Missouri’s current law states that petitions for the dissolution of a marriage include things such as the residence of each party, the date of the marriage, the date of the support, and arrangements for child custody. Among the things to be listed is whether the wife is pregnant. 

A bill was introduced in January stating that "pregnancy status shall not prevent the court from entering a judgment of dissolution of marriage or legal separation." The bill's progress has stalled. 

Missouri’s laws on abortion, which went into effect on June 24, 2022, state that "no abortion shall be performed or induced upon a woman, except in cases of medical emergency." Those who perform abortions would be charged with a class B felony, while the women who receive the abortions would not be prosecuted.