For years, New York Families Foundation has warned that Albany’s Democratic majorities are steadily replacing clear, commonsense language with far-left ideological terminology. The latest example is S.9316 (Sepúlveda)/A.8382-A (Paulin), which recently passed both houses of the State Legislature. Kathy Hochul, New York’s first “mom governor,” has been mum about whether she will sign the bill into law or veto it.
The bill would replace the terms “mother” and “father” throughout portions of New York law with terms such as “gestating parent,” “non-gestating parent,” and “parentage.” Reactions have been swift, with social media lighting up in recent weeks.
Supporters claim these changes merely modernize legal language and make statutes more inclusive. We disagree. This is not a simple technical update. It is another step in a broader effort to remove biological reality and the natural family from public life.
Mothers are not “gestating parents.” Fathers are not “non-gestating parents.” Mothers and fathers describe real people, real relationships, and real responsibilities that have existed throughout human history. No amount of legislative editing can change the fact that only women can become pregnant and give birth. The term “pregnant person” is no more accurate than “gestating parent.” It obscures a biological reality that every generation before ours understood without controversy.
Nor is this bill an isolated case.
New York Families has watched gender-neutral language steadily spread across state government for years. The trend accelerated after the 2021 enactment of the Child-Parent Security Act, which introduced broader “parentage” language in New York law. Since then, lawmakers and state agencies have increasingly adopted terminology that omits references to mothers and fathers.
For example, New York’s breastfeeding law currently recognizes that mothers may breastfeed their babies “in any location, public or private, where they are otherwise authorized to be.” Yet S.2444 (Fernandez)/A.11581 (Forrest), introduced during the recent legislative session, would have removed the words “mother” and “her” from the statute and replaced them with the gender-neutral terms “person” and “their.” The sponsor’s memorandum justified the change by arguing that some “transgender men and nonbinary individuals” can give birth and breastfeed without identifying as mothers. The bill passed the State Senate but has not advanced in the Assembly.
What would have been considered absurd just a few years ago is now commonplace in Albany. Taken individually, these changes may seem minor, but collectively they reveal a deliberate effort to replace family-centered language with terminology that reflects progressive ideology rather than biological reality.
“New York’s Democratic majorities continue to devote time and energy to rewriting language, even as families face serious challenges,” said Jason J. McGuire, Executive Director of New York Families Foundation. “Parents are struggling to put food on the table, meet their mortgage payments, and pay the electric bill. Instead of helping moms and dads, Albany seems determined to redefine them out of relevance.” McGuire continued, “Words matter because they shape culture. When government abandons the language of mothers and fathers, it signals that these roles are interchangeable, optional, or merely social constructs. New Yorkers know better,” McGuire concluded.
Strong families depend on recognizing reality, not on redefining it.
At New York Families, we will continue to oppose efforts to erase motherhood and fatherhood from our laws, institutions, and culture. Mothers are mothers. Fathers are fathers. Government should not pretend otherwise.
Albany should stop trying to redefine the family and instead focus on policies that help families flourish.
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