A few weeks ago, families across Suffolk County celebrated the incredible women who brought us into the world. Flowers were bought, brunch reservations were made, and many wished Mom a Happy Mother's Day.
A few weeks from now, we'll do the same for Dad. Maybe it's a new tie, a round of golf, a backyard barbecue, or a cold beer with Pops. Whatever the tradition, families across New York will celebrate Father's Day and thank the men who helped raise them.
But if Albany lawmakers get their way, "Mother" and "Father" could soon become relics of the past.
Instead, a proposed New York law would refer to them as "gestating parent" and "non-gestating parent."
Yes, really.
While New Yorkers grapple with soaring utility bills, rising food costs, high taxes and a record $268.5 billion state budget, Albany Democrats spent part of the final week of the legislative session advancing legislation replacing traditional references to mothers and fathers in state law with gender-neutral terminology.
The bill, sponsored by State Sen. Luis Sepúlveda and Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, would substitute terms such as "gestating parent," "non-gestating parent" and "parent" in various sections of family law while replacing references to "paternity" with "parentage." The measure has passed both houses of the Legislature and now heads to Gov. Kathy Hochul's desk.
“This is INSANE,” Libs of TikTok founder Chaya Raichik wrote on X. “Democrats are destroying what it means to be a mother and father.”
Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt blasted the legislation as another example of Albany's misplaced priorities.
“At a time when New Yorkers are struggling with affordability, they are focused on the wrong things,” Ortt said. “Instead of tackling affordability, sky-high energy rates, high taxes and crime, they're focused on getting rid of the terms mother and father in New York State law.”
State Sen. Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick was equally blunt.
“I am a mother. I am proud to be a mother, and nothing they do inside will ever take that away,” she said. “New Yorkers are proud to celebrate moms and dads, and they would rather we, as lawmakers, focus on the issues that actually matter.”