Dems replace ‘mother’ with ‘gestating parent’ in NY law rewrite
New York lawmakers passed legislation replacing "mother" and "father" with "gestating parent" and "non-gestating parent" in state law, drawing criticism from conservatives and some Democrats.
The bill, which passed the state Assembly in March and cleared the Senate this week, rewrites family court terminology across domestic relations and education law, according to New York Post. Under the new language, traditional paternity proceedings would become “parentage” cases, while a putative father would be referred to as “an alleged parent” in official state records.
Sen. Luis Sepulveda, a Bronx Democrat, and Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, a Democrat from Westchester, sponsored the measure. It now heads to Governor Kathy Hochul for final approval.
Gerard Kassar, chairman of the state Conservative Party and a former state legislative staffer, blasted the legislation as misguided activism. It’s woke culture run amok, Kassar told reporters, warning that the bill would likely trigger a wave of similar measures while lawmakers neglect more pressing concerns facing New Yorkers.
The criticism comes as particularly pointed given that the Democrat-controlled legislature delivered the state’s $268 billion budget nearly two months late. Kassar questioned the priorities of elected officials who would focus on rewriting long-established parental terminology while failing to complete basic governance tasks on time.
Even some Democrats expressed reservations about the unwieldy new language. One Democratic lawmaker characterized the legislation as unnecessary when speaking with reporters as the legislative session drew to a close.
Hochul, who refers to herself as New York’s first “mom governor,” declined to take a position on the bill when asked at a Brooklyn event Wednesday. She stated she was unfamiliar with what had been introduced and would review it according to her standard practice.
Supporters of the legislation claim it brings state law into alignment with modern family court practices, particularly in surrogacy cases and those involving same-sex couples. A memo accompanying the bill argues the changes reflect the realities of contemporary family structures, including households with two mothers or two fathers.
Adoption attorney Leslie Silver-Hoffman defended the revision, noting that New York now has adoptive parents of the same gender and that traditional mother-father terminology has become outdated in light of same-sex couple adoptions and surrogacy agreements.
U.S. Representative Claudia Tenney, a New York Republican, condemned the move as an insult to mothers, whom she described as the foundation of families and society rather than a political construct. Tenney argued that while New Yorkers face high taxes, rising costs, and public safety threats, Albany Democrats are preoccupied with redefining motherhood through progressive ideology.
State Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo, a Staten Island Republican who voted against the measure, dismissed it as manufactured outrage. He pointed out that existing terminology already accommodates same-sex parents without requiring bureaucratic euphemisms, calling the legislation an example of Democrats inventing problems where none exist.
With information from New York Post
