Fox News host Maria Bartiromo launched a fiery critique against New York Democrats for recently passing a bill that eliminates the legal terms “mother” and “father” from state family laws, substituting them with gender-neutral phrases such as “gestating parent” and “non-gestating parent.”
Bartiromo's Reaction
During Sunday’s episode of “Sunday Morning Futures,” Bartiromo’s guest, Representative Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.), voiced her disapproval of the legislation. Bartiromo then interjected with a passionate rant. “What are we doing here?” she exclaimed. “So we’re not supposed to say mother and father now? We can’t say mother and — you know what? That’s disgusting! OK?” She further elaborated, “What a mother goes through — a woman goes through to have a child and to raise that child and parent — now we have to take that away from them [by not] calling them mother.”
Bill Details and Progress
Senate Bill S9316 successfully passed in the New York State Senate last week, following its advancement through the State Assembly in March. The bill was delivered to New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s desk earlier this month and is currently awaiting her final approval. According to FOX 5 New York, the bill’s memo argues that the terminology change is intended to promote inclusivity. However, critics contend that such a change is unnecessary.
Backlash from Lawmakers
The bill has sparked significant backlash from multiple lawmakers. Bruce Blakeman, the Republican nominee for governor of New York, expressed his outrage on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, calling the bill “insanity.” He wrote, “In Kathy Hochul’s New York, ‘mom’ is now defined as ‘gestating parent.’ Not when I’m Governor! I’ll stand up for moms and dads against this insanity.” In a subsequent post, he added, “This bill is a continuation of Hochul’s war on families, and I won’t stop fighting until we take New York back.”
Representative Claudia Tenney also condemned the bill on X on Thursday, stating, “The party that can’t define a woman is now rewriting New York law to erase mothers and fathers. Only in Albany could ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ become too controversial.”
