The Associated Press reported April 16 that “divorce and births to unwed mothers in the state cost taxpayers more than $430 million, according to a report made public Tuesday that officials said supports government efforts to strengthen families and reduce Oklahoma’s high divorce rate.

“‘Family fragmentation is perhaps the elephant in the living room of public policy discourse,’ said Rep. Mark McCullough, R-Sapulpa, one of several Republican lawmakers who revealed the findings of the study by a coalition of research and policy groups including the Institute for American Values and the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy.”