New York is about to erase “mother” and “father” from state law. Justifiable outrage has erupted across the Right. But if you’re surprised, you weren’t paying attention.Bills already passed through both chambers of the New York legislature are on their way to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) desk. Under the legislation, “mother” becomes “gestating parent.” “Father” becomes “non-gestating parent.” Gender-specific “paternity” becomes gender-absent “parentage.” The phrase “putative father” — a legal term with centuries of common law history behind it — is replaced with “alleged parent.” Every word that names a sex is being systematically removed from New York’s family statutes.These changes didn’t come out of nowhere. They are the logical end of a process kicked into motion when the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in 2015.
SUPREME COURT DECLINES TO HEAR GUNMAKERS’ CHALLENGE TO NEW YORK FIREARMS LIABILITY LAW
Children of the ‘constellation’
In Obergefell v. Hodges, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that same-sex couples needed access to the full “constellation of benefits” that marriage provided. What followed proved that children were among those so-called benefits. In the name of constitutional rights, the law had to accomplish what biology prohibits: making two same-sex adults the legal parents of a child. That required erasing the legal category of mother and father altogether.
