Cammack leads effort to get NY Gov Hochul to reject bill replacing mother with 'gestating parent'

Congresswoman Kat Cammack, founder and leader of the Republican Women’s Caucus, is leading an effort to get New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul to reject so-called gender-neutral – such as replacing the word "mother" with “gestating parent” – family language legislation now awaiting her signature.

Cammack, who represents Florida’s 3rd congressional district, told Just the News exclusively Wednesday that the bill “should send shivers up everyone's spine.”

“When you think about how the radical left has sought to demonize words like ‘mother,’ ‘father,’ ‘breastfeed,’ ‘woman,’ [...] that is a sign that this is a movement that is looking to erode the basic foundational elements of culture, and in this case, culture of the West," she also said.

The New York legislature on June 2 passed Assembly Bill A8382A, which would replace the terms “mother” and “father” with “gestating parent” and “non-gestating parent” in state law – terms described in the letter as “cold, clinical, and inaccurate.”

Said Cammack: “A society that can't even define the most important terms, such as father or mother, has very little chance of succeeding moving forward."

The congresswoman noted the Orwellian nature of the legislation, saying, "If you can't agree on basic terminology and language, basic facts, then all is lost."

She is among conservative and Republican women who are raising concerns about a political movement they argue is denying biological sex.

“We feel as though we're standing in the gap between common sense and crazy," said Cammick, who has a baby daughter. "And you have so many incredible women who are serving as legislators right now that feel that they have to engage on this front.”

The letter was signed by 12 RWC members, including Reps. Mary Miller, of Illinois, and Young Kim, of California, and also argues that changing terminology to reflect a gender-neutral perspective “serves no function other than to placate extremists of the Democratic Party.”

Hochul is likely “terrified of the radical left elements within her own party,” also said, leading her to “deny basic biology, to deny basic science, to deny reality,” and ultimately, “choosing crazy at the expense of common sense.

The bill faced opposition by the town of Hempstead on Long Island, New York, which voted to preserve the terms “mother” and “father” in its own legal code. 

Because the legislation reached her desk after the state's legislative session ended, Hochul has until the end of the year to sign or veto it. She has been unclear as to when she plans to address the legislation.