Massachusetts Bill Seeks to Redefine Parenthood Terms, Replace “Mother” with “Person Who Gave Birth”

Wait, we’re still doing this?

I thought this really goofy stuff was sort of ramping down a little bit? I keep hearing that’s happening, then I see these news articles.

New York Post:

A Massachusetts bill, which seeks to update state law to redefine who legally qualifies as a parent, passed in the state senate on Thursday and now awaits signature from Democratic Governor Maura Healey to become law.

The Massachusetts Parentage Act aims to ensure “legal parentage equality” for children born to parents “without regard to the marital status, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation of their parents or the circumstances of their birth, including whether they were born as a result of assisted reproduction or surrogacy,” the bill text explains.

The bill requires gendered terms like “father” and “mother” to be stripped from state parentage law and replaced with more “inclusive” terms like “parent” or “the person who gave birth.” Advocates say the bill protects the legal parenting rights of diverse and LGBTQ families.

Democratic state senator Julian Cyr, a co-sponsor of the bill, celebrated its passage on X, writing, “LGBTQ+ families like mine face excessive and expensive hoops just to ensure our children have the security of legal parentage. The Senate’s passage of this bill is a critical step towards parentage equality in Massachusetts!”

This might actually not pass.

It feels like, especially with the election coming up, people are trying to get this sort of thing out of the headlines.