GOP lawmakers push Hochul to veto bill erasing parental terms from NY law
Republican lawmakers are urging New York Governor Kathy Hochul to veto legislation that would replace "mother" and "father" with terms like "gestating parent" in state family law.
The controversial gender-neutral bill, passed by Democratic majorities in the state legislature, would fundamentally rewrite New York’s child custody, family court, domestic relations, and education statutes by removing traditional parental terms in favor of language focused on pregnancy status, as New York Post reports.
Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick, a Republican state senator from Nassau County, joined colleagues Bill Weber of Rockland County and Alexis Weik of Suffolk County in sending a letter to Hochul urging a veto of what they characterize as virtue signaling.
The three Republican senators noted that replacing “father” with “non-gestating parent” undermines the vital role fathers play in children’s lives. They reminded Hochul, herself a mother and grandmother, that young children typically learn to say “mom” or “dad” as their first words.
The lawmakers warned that reducing mothers to the clinical term “gestating parent” represents offensive and dehumanizing language that serves no legitimate policy purpose. They emphasized that mothers remain the core of families and communities as women who work and provide for their children.
Hochul’s office has dismissed criticism of the measure, claiming the legislation changes nothing about how mothers and fathers are actually recognized. The governor has until the end of 2025 to make a final decision on the bill.
Surrogacy Justification Questioned
Democratic sponsors Luis Sepulveda, a state senator from the Bronx, and Assemblywoman Amy Paulin of Westchester County defended the legislation as necessary to address surrogacy situations and same-sex marriage cases within Family Court Law.
Critics have countered that targeted amendments could have addressed those specific scenarios without wholesale elimination of “mother” and “father” from state statutes.
The bill would additionally rename paternity proceedings as “parentage proceedings” and reclassify putative fathers as “alleged parents” throughout New York law.
Albany Democrats pushed the measure through during the final days of the May legislative session with minimal debate, according to Republican opponents. Some Democratic legislators voted against the bill despite their party’s support.
With information from New York Post
