Official portrait of Oklahoma state Sen. Dusty Deevers (R-Elgin) (Source: Oklahoma Senate)

Oklahoma state Sen. Dusty Deevers (R-Elgin) has proposed a pair of bills to end no-fault divorce and implement a “covenant marriage” policy, potentially closing pathways for people to end abusive marriages.

Senate Bill 829 would effectively end the practice of no-fault divorce, which allows spouses to seek divorce over irreconcilable differences without proving wrongdoing by the other party. All 50 states currently offer some form a legal no-fault divorce, which is often described as “irreconcilable differences.”

Under SB 829, a divorce may only be granted by the state under certain causes, including desertion for one year, habitual drunkenness, gross neglect of duty, adultery, unknown pregnancy at the time of marriage, extreme cruelty and insanity for a period of five years.

Conversely, Senate Bill 228 would implement a “covenant marriage” policy to “promote the religious freedom of those who wish to enter into a marital union under religious terms,” according to the bill’s text. After signing a declaration of intent for a “covenant marriage,” a spouse seeking a divorce must prove abandonment, abuse or adultery by their partner.

Deevers’ office did not respond to a request to comment on concerns with ending no-fault divorce, including potentially endangering people with abusive spouses.

The bills were part of a slate of eight bills that Deevers claims will “restore moral sanity” in Oklahoma.

“Sadly, the left’s century-long assault on morality and decency has been so successful that some have come to accept as normal a society that is drowning in hardcore pornography, prenatal homicide, and sexual performances for children,” Deevers said in a press release. “None of this is normal. Each one of these evils is a result of a policy choice to not stand for what we know is right. Opposing these evils does not mean we are extremists. It means we are sane.”

The other bills in the package include a total ban on pornography, prohibiting drag performances for children and abolishing abortion through a life begins at conception bill. Since joining the Oklahoma state Senate in 2023, Deevers has regularly espoused Christian nationalist rhetoric.

Deevers also introduced a bill this year to allow the state to pay public employees in Bitcoin.