New York Democrats just passed a bill erasing the word "mother" from state law and replacing it with "gestating parent."
Now it sits on Kathy Hochul's desk – and she's pretending she doesn't know anything about it.
The woman who calls herself New York's "first mom governor" is about to decide whether to sign the death warrant for the word "mom."
New York Senate Bill 9316 Erases Mother and Father From Family Court While Albany Ran Two Months Late on the Budget
Senate Bill 9316, rammed through both chambers by Democrats, does exactly what it sounds like.
"Mother" becomes "gestating parent" in New York family court, domestic relations law, and education law.
"Father" becomes "non-gestating parent."
"Paternity" proceedings get scrubbed and replaced with "parentage" cases.
Even "putative father" – the legal term for an unconfirmed biological parent – becomes "alleged parent" in official state records.
The bill cleared the Assembly in March and steamrolled through the Senate this week.
New York's Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar didn't mince words.
"It's woke culture run amok," Kassar said. "It's one-upmanship. It's an example of how out of tune the New York legislature is. It's an unnecessary and wasteful use of time."
He's right – and there's a detail that makes this even more infuriating.
Albany Democrats were nearly two months late delivering the state's $268 billion budget this year.
New Yorkers are getting crushed by utility bills and rising costs, and the legislature's big priority in the final days of session was making sure no state document ever calls a woman a mother again.
Sen. Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick (R-Nassau) said it plainly: "I am a mother and proud to be called 'mother.'"
New York Joins 13 States That Have Already Erased Mother From the Law Books
Don't let Albany Democrats tell you this is an isolated quirk of one progressive legislature.
New York is following a coordinated blueprint – one that has already conquered New England.
Massachusetts passed its "Parentage Act" in 2024, removing "mother" and "father" from state law in favor of terms like "the person who gave birth."
Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont had already done the same.
The LGBTQ legal activist group GLAD celebrated Massachusetts crossing the finish line by announcing the state had become the 13th in the nation to adopt these changes.
Thirteen states.
These activists aren't hiding what comes next – they want every state in the union.
Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) called mothers "the foundation of families and society" and rejected the idea that motherhood is a political construct.
She's right – but in Albany, the political class has already decided otherwise.
Kathy Hochul Called Herself New Yorks First Mom Governor Now She Has 10 Days to Sign the Word Away
Here's where this gets personal.
Kathy Hochul has spent years calling herself New York's "first mom governor."
She milks the identity every election cycle – the working mom, the grandmother, the woman who gets it.
When reporters asked her Wednesday whether she supports replacing the word "mother" with "gestating parent" in state law, she dodged it.
"Well, I'm not familiar with what was introduced," Hochul said at an unrelated event in Brooklyn. "I'll take a look at it. This has been my practice for five years."
She's had years to see this coming – Massachusetts did it, Connecticut before that, Vermont before that – and the governor of the third most-populated state in the country needs to take a look at it.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman called it what it is.
"Democrats led by Kathy Hochul have continued their declaration of war on New York families by canceling the loving terms of Mom and Dad and replacing them with 'gestating and non-gestating parent,'" Blakeman said. "The insanity ends when I'm Governor."
Hochul has 10 days to sign it, veto it, or let it become law without her signature.
The governor who built a career on being called "mom" now has to decide whether to make that word illegal in the state she runs.
Watch what she does – not what she says.
Sources:
- Fischetti and Natalie O'Neill, "Dems Replace 'Mother' with 'Gestating Parent' in Latest Woke Rewrite of NY Law," New York Post, June 3, 2026.
- Claire Carter, "NY Assembly Sends Bill to Hochul's Desk to Replace 'Mother' and 'Father' with Gender Neutral Terms," Washington Examiner, June 4, 2026.
- Peter Stevens, "New York Democrats Push to Replace 'Mother' with 'Gestating Parent' Under Inclusivity Drive," GB News, June 4, 2026.
- "NY Democrats Advance Bill to Replace 'Mother' and 'Father' in State Law," 77 WABC, June 2, 2026.
