Well, how about looking at it another way? Instead of automatically giving the women sole custody, how about automatically giving
both parents custody? Studies show that children do better when both parents are allowed to parent. North Dakota has implented a law requiring this.
"The North Dakota Shared Parenting Initiative is based on the belief that all parents have a fundamental liberty interest in the care and custody of their children, and that no fit parent can lawfully be denied custody of his or her children. Under the Initiative, when family law courts adjudicate a divorce, unless there is clear and convincing evidence that a mother or father is unfit, all parents will have joint legal and physical custody of their children.
That more needs to be done to protect children’s relationships with their parents after divorce cannot be reasonably denied. In a study published in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 40% of divorced mothers
admitted that they had interfered with their ex-husband's access or visitation, and that their motives were punitive in nature and not due to safety considerations."
http://www.glennsacks.com/north_dakota_shared.htm