Ashton Applewhite

In 1997, Louisiana became the first state to offer couples a covenant marriage option, which requires premarital counseling and makes divorce more difficult to obtain. In the following viewpoint, Ashton Applewhite argues that covenant marriage may increase problems within families by making it more difficult to exit a problematic marriage. Moreover, she contends that no-fault divorces, which permit couples to divorce without assigning blame, are sufficiently difficult to deter spouses from heedlessly separating, and stricter marriage laws are not needed. Applewhite is the author of Cutting Loose: Why Women Who End Their Marriages Do So Well.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. On what grounds does covenant marriage permit divorce, as stated by the author?
2. According to the author, what is the sole benefit of covenant marriage legislation?
3. According to Applewhite, idealizing the...