The Scottish Executive (the office that conducts day-to-day administrative business in Scotland) has proposed reducing the time that couples must live apart before they can get divorced. The bill would reduce from two years to one year the time couples must have been separated for an uncontested divorce, and it would reduce that period from five years from two years for a contested or adversarial divorce.
Some church leaders have criticized the plan. Here’s a story about their opposition from The Scotsman.
Labeling the shorter periods a “quickie divorce” bill, the parliamentary officer of the Catholic Church said that evidence showed children are better off when their parents are married and that public policy should keep families together. He also said, “We fundamentally believe that if we enhance other relationships such as cohabitation, or if we weaken the bond of marriage by making no-fault divorce easier, then that impacts on the stability of marriage.” There’s no explanation in the article how making divorce easier would encourage unmarried couples to live together.