New York Democrats passed legislation this week stripping the words “mother” and “father” from state child custody and parental laws — replacing them with “gestating parent” and “non-gestating parent.”
The bill now sits on Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul’s desk.
Sponsored by State Assembly Democrat Amy Paulin and State Senator Luis Sepulveda, the legislation rewrites “paternity” proceedings as “parentage” cases. It also changes “putative father” — a man biologically related to a child without legal relationship — to “an alleged parent.”
“IT’S AN EXAMPLE OF HOW OUT OF TUNE THE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE IS. IT’S AN UNNECESSARY AND WASTEFUL USE OF TIME.”
A memo accompanying the bill claims the changes are necessary due to surrogacy cases involving same-sex parents. An adoption lawyer told The New York Post that “mother” and “father” are outdated terms given the number of same-sex couple adoptions.
Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar slammed the bill as “woke culture run amok.”
“It’s an example of how out of tune the New York legislature is,” Kassar said. “It’s an unnecessary and wasteful use of time.”
Kassar warned the gender-neutral bill is the first in a coming stampede of similar legislation — and ripped Democratic lawmakers’ priorities as backward.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman said Democrats are waging a “war” on New York families by stripping away the “loving terms of Mom and Dad.”
“The insanity ends when I’m governor,” Blakeman said.
Republican State Senator Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick called the bill superfluous — especially as New York families face crushing utility bills, rising costs, and public safety concerns.
“Albany Democrats have decided one of their final priorities in the last days of session should be replacing mothers and fathers in state law,” Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick said. “That is not what families are asking for.”
Some Democratic lawmakers privately “rolled their eyes” at the language as they voted for it, finding it unnecessary, according to the Post.
When asked whether she supported the gender-neutral legislation, Governor Hochul claimed she wasn’t familiar with it and needed to review the bill.
