Some Mexico City lawmakers are proposing "renewable" marriage contracts instead of lifetime commitments so that newlyweds could avoid the often torturous process of divorce.
Under the proposal, couples planning marriage would decide on the length of their commitment, with the minimum contract being for two years.
If they decide not to renew the contract, they would be able to opt out without a legal hassle, Reuters reports.
"The proposal is, when the two-year period is up, if the relationship is not stable or harmonious, the contract simply ends," says the bill's co-author, Leonel Luna of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, Reuters reports. The party holds a majority of the assembly's 66 seats.
Reuters says that around half of Mexico City marriages end in divorce, usually in the first two years.
The news agency quotes a spokesman for the Mexican archdiocese as calling the proposal "absurd" and a contradiction of the nature of marriage.
The BBC reports that the bill, which includes provisions on how children and property would be handled, is likely to go before legislators in December.
