The New York State Legislature sent a bill to Gov. Kathy Houchin’s desk that would write mothers and fathers out of a state law.
Just weeks before Father’s Day, New York is setting the scene to forget the title and replace it with “non-gestating parent.” The same applies to mothers, or, as they will soon be called, “gestating parents.” It also replaces terms like “paternity” in family law with “parentage” and disposes of any gendered pronouns.
The bill, A8382A, is focused on child custody and parental laws, but according to The New York Post, it is “expected to spark a flood of similarly clunky legislation.” The bill passed the Assembly earlier this spring and made it through the Senate in the last week of the session. It is now on the governor’s desk, and she has until the end of the year to sign it into law.
Leaving aside the insanity, indignity, and society fallout for a moment, replacing the terms mother and father in state law brings a host of public policy complications. Most obviously, birth mothers are only considered to be gestating for the nine months of pregnancy. Aside from this, all parents are non-gestating, leaving no room for differentiation under these terms.
Bruce Blakeman, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, responded to the change on X, asserting, “This bill is a continuation of Hochul’s war on families.” U.S. Rep. Claudia Tennney (R-New York 24th) wrote, “only in Albany could ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ become too controversial.” Concerned Women for America Legislative Strategist Hannah Lape also reacted,
As a woman born and raised in New York, and as a woman with a mother, father, grandmother, and grandfather in New York, it is heartbreaking to see my home state politicians erase mothers and fathers with such dehumanizing terms as “gestating person” and “non-gestating person.” The God-ordained vocations of motherhood and fatherhood should not be rejected or reduced to cater to gender ideology, especially with such insulting terminology.
But this bill falls directly in line with the redefinitions plaguing state legislatures across the country, from “birthing person” to “chest feeder” and beyond. These terms cut to the heart of modern “progressivism” which insists that a person is only as much as his/her contributions to society. It is often the same politicians and activists running on “women’s rights” who are essentially writing the dignity of motherhood out of law, reducing it to nine months of gestation.
Mothers and fathers know that parenthood is more than nine months of conception and gestation. It is midnight feedings, diaper changes, first words, Bible school, homework help, first-date nerves, prom dress shopping, and countless moments of compassion, support, and unconditional love.
As the state attempts to minimize the role of a child’s parents, it fills the gap itself, maximizing state involvement in shaping a child’s basic understandings of the world in which they live.
Parents are not replaceable, and they are much more than the role they play in conception. God does not gift everyone the responsibilities of parenthood, and it is a role uniquely and intentionally filled by a child’s loving mother and father. These roles, as created and affirmed by God Himself, serve not just the child but the Kingdom of God like no other. The foundations built on sacrificial leadership and submission paint a beautiful display of Christ’s love for the world around them to see.
As state legislators turn a blind eye to the beauty of God’s design for families, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee will continue to combat the schemes with truth, light, and grace at every turn.
