parenting

New York Bill Would Remove ‘Mother’ and ‘Father’ From State Law

New York Governor Kathy Hochul is expected to sign SB 9316 into law, stripping the fundamentally important familial words “mother” and “father” and all references to sex distinct parenting from state law. The official explanation of the bill proudly admits this law “Replaces the terms father, mother, and filiation to gender neutral language.”

The bill substitutes all references to fatherhood and paternity to the sex generic term “parentage.” It also offends all natural mothers and fathers, referring to them as “gestating parents” and “non-gestating parents.”

Make no mistake, this will not only mean the deconstruction of the family in New York law, but it deconstructs our understanding of humanity itself.

You cannot speak sensibly about what it means to be human without speaking truthfully about that which uniquely creates humanity. That is mothers and fathers, and it is a universal truth across all cultures at all times. But the New York Legislature has now ignored that and created a new nonsense world where mom and dad are not allowed because of their natural exclusivity.

Why would New York legislators do such a moronically antiscientific and malevolent thing? The bill’s sponsor, Senator Luis Sepúlveda of the Bronx, explained during floor debate, “The bill is really to adjust to modern times and different families that you have today.”

He is precisely right. “Same-sex marriage” created these new “families.” When the U.S. Supreme Court, under the facade of “marriage equality,” redefined marriage 11 years ago this month in Obergefell v. Hodges, it also redefined parentage and the family itself. It necessitated declaring mother and father meaningless.

This is reflected in the U.S. Uniform Parentage Act (UPA) being rewritten in 2017. The National Center for LGBTQ Rights explains, “The UPA of 2017 fully protects both married and unmarried same-sex couples, and includes many important provisions protecting LGBTQ parents, including provisions addressing children with multiple parents.” They add, “Reproductive justice means fully protecting all families under the law.”

Obergefell, by codifying same-sex families, fundamentally relativizes and de-sexes the family.

This is precisely what S9316 does too. And it must do so under Obergefell because gay and lesbian adults require the purchasing of eggs, sperm and wombs in order to obtain children. New York law is recognizing this reality and challenging nature to allow for the creation of intentionally motherless and fatherless boys and girls so that men and women with abnormal sexual interests get what they desire. That is unethical.

Remarkably, Andrew Sullivan, one of the earliest and most vocal pioneers of redefining marriage, is very disturbed by the passage of SB 9316. Writing just days ago, he lamented, “On all questions gay and trans, the Dems are now entirely controlled by trans and ‘queer’ extremists.” Sullivan fails to appreciate that it is not promoters of transgenderism that created this mess. Same-sex marriage did, and that is demonstrated in this wildly vivid example:

Gay “marriage” is fundamentally set against mother and father having any meaning at all.Individuals in naturally infertile relationships deny the children they purchase or adopt something essential – their own mother or father.

The Wall Street Journal editorial board fully gets this. They observed,

Ms. Hochul has time to decide what to do with this bill, and it’s possible her answer won’t come until after the November election. Too bad, since a veto on June 21 would be a nice gift to millions of voters celebrating, uh, Non-Gestating Parent’s Day.

The New York Legislature has done something truly evil. As Dr. Albert Mohler explained in World magazine, “The goal of this insanity is nothing less than the collapse of truth, creation order, marriage, morality, and civilization itself.”

He is correct. You cannot speak truthfully about human reality or civilization without the terms “mother” and “father.” Both are required for anyone’s existence and healthy development.

Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images.

JD and Usha Vance Say Erika Kirk’s Regret Shaped Their Fourth Child Decision

In his forthcoming book, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith, Vice President JD Vance suggests that the assassination of his friend Charlie Kirk led to the Vances’ fourth pregnancy.

The vice president writes:

“For years I had asked Usha to have another baby, and for years she had told me she was done—especially now that public service had elevated us into the national spotlight.”

The Vances are busy raising three children: Ewan (8), Vivek (6) and Mirabel (4).

Prior to being elected vice president, Vance served as a United States senator in Ohio, beginning in 2023. He served in the U.S. Marines then met his wife, Usha, while they were both attending Yale Law School. They married a year after graduation. 

Vice President Vance and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk forged a strong friendship after Vance had been elected to the Senate. They would get together whenever possible and spoke regularly on the phone – especially as the media spotlight homed in on the Ohio senator during the 2024 campaign.

When Senator Vance expressed concern that son Ewan was beginning to resent the family’s fame and attention, Kirk counseled him.

“Don’t try to convince your son it’s not a sacrifice,” Charlie told him. “It is. Just try to take some solace in the fact that it’s a worthy sacrifice. I’ll say a prayer for you.” 

But then came the awful day in September 2025. After news of Charlie’s murder, the Vances flew to Utah to minister to Erika. VP Vance writes about it in his new book:

“As my wife held Charlie Kirk’s widow on the first day of her terrible sorrow, Erika told Usha between sobs that she regretted having only two kids with Charlie.”

There’s little doubt the Kirks wanted more children and they likely would have if Charlie had not been assassinated.

“Get married,” urged Charlie Kirk back when he was alive. “Have children. Build a legacy. Pass down your values. Pursue the eternal. Seek true joy. Having children is way more important than having a good career.”

According to Vice President Vance, the time grieving with Erika Kirk had a profound impact on his wife.

“Something changed for Usha, and not long after we buried my friend, she became pregnant with our fourth child, a boy,” Vance writes. 

He then added:

“One life was stolen from us, but another was given. I don’t know why God does things like this. But I am grateful to Him that there will soon be another source of joy in our lives. Another person added to the communion of our family and hopefully to that of the Church. Another person to whom I will sing, ‘Jesus loves me, this I know.’ Another beautiful soul to wonder at, and fall in love with, God’s beautiful creation.”

Few people know anyone who regrets having too many children, but we all know people who wish they had more.

As Christians, we should be the most vocal and effective promoters of marriage and children – and we do that by modeling the blessings of a happy family filled with as many souls as the Lord sees fit to loan us.

New Study Shows Becoming a Father Rewires the Male Brain

We know that when men become fathers, God has designed it that their bodies start to change, making them more attuned to their new role as their child’s essential male parent. 

For instance, university-based research shows that dads’ testosterone (T) levels decline in helpful ways. Men with lower T tend to be more focused on their marital and fatherly duties because it lowers libido, aggression and infidelity risk.

Motherhood also changes the woman’s body in profound ways as well, getting her ready for one of the most important jobs she will ever have: mothering. But how fatherhood changes men’s brains is less understood.

A new German medical study just published in the journal Translational Psychiatry demonstrates how the paternal brain turns more fatherly in the weeks and months after his child is born. In general, this research team observed, “The critical role of fathers is being increasingly recognized, with research emphasizing the significant impact of paternal involvement on infant socioemotional and cognitive development.”

In this longitudinal study, scans were made of 25 new fathers’ brains over the 2 years following their child’s birth and it appears their brains prune certain neural pathways and rewire others in order to put these men in a more fathering frame of mind. This makes them more protective, empathic, responsive and tender toward their child and wife.

This takes place in different ways over the first weeks and months of their child’s life. These scholars explained they observed “early structural reorganization supporting the adaption to fatherhood, whereas later adaptations help refine essential caregiving skills” as these new dads grow in their new fathering roles. The most dramatic changes in gray matter volume and neural rewiring were observed in the first six weeks postpartum.

Similar findings were discovered in a 2022 study studying new fathers in Spain and the United States, thus establishing science’s understanding of what this new study’s authors referred to as a “parental brain network” associated with enhanced mothering and fathering. 

These scholars concluded, “These findings outline a clear trajectory of paternal neuroplasticity and adaptation during the early postpartum period, followed by maintenance and fine-tuning processes that likely facilitate paternal caregiving behaviors.”

This research demonstrates that humans are carefully designed and equipped to reproduce and parent as men and women – and become better at this essential task as their babies grow.

We are indeed fearfully and wonderfully made.

Cities Beg for Parents to Stop Violent ‘Teen Takeovers’

Dare to discipline? Major U.S. cities are now calling for “parental accountability” as “teen takeovers” become increasingly violent.

Ironic, considering many of the same cities spent years stripping moms and dads of their parental rights.

“Teen takeovers” are pop-up gatherings advertised on social media. The viral trend gained national media attention in March as takeovers in cities including Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Oklahoma City, Orlando and the Bronx ended in destruction and violence.

“These are not harmless gatherings.” U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro told reporters earlier this month after teens destroyed a local Chipotle. “They are violent and they are disruptive.”

Teen takeover violence reached a new level over Memorial Day weekend.

Five police officers were hospitalized trying to disperse a gathering in Chicago after 18-year-old Rashad Johnson allegedly hit them with a car.

Johnson only stopped the car after he hopped a curb and crashed into a police car, a pole and a fence. He is charged with attempted murder and five counts of aggravated battery, among other charges.

Thankfully, all five injured officers are expected to recover fully.

Johnson was one of 53 people, including 23 juveniles, arrested across two teen takeovers in Chicago over the holiday. Eight teenagers 17-year-old and under received felony charges.

Detroit police also broke up two violent teen takeovers — one of which ended in the shooting of a 16-year-old boy.

As teenage behavior spirals out of control, government employees are calling on parents to, you know, parent.

“Parents, we need you actively involved in knowing where your children are, because accountability extends to parents as well,” Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield exhorted in a YouTube video following last weekend’s violence.

Chicago Mayor Brian Johnson made a similar plea following the chaos in Chicago.

“I continue to call on parents and guardians to know where their children are and to help ensure they are safe and accounted for,” he posted on X.

Chicagoans want parents to take responsibility for their kids so badly that lawmakers have reportedly begun drafting “parental accountability” legislation in which parents could face punishment for crimes their children’s crimes.

Concerns about parental accountability aren’t limited to Chicago and Detroit. U.S. Attorney Pirro announced her office would prosecute parents of teens involved in destructive teen takeovers earlier this month.

“We don’t want your kids victimized, and neither should you,” Pirro addressed parents directly. “And that requires that you do something about this.”

“That’s why we’re going to hold you accountable.”

The Daily Citizen and Focus on the Family believe parents have the biblical right and responsibility to love, raise, protect and provide for their children, including:

  • Teaching them to love and pursue biblical justice and morality.
  • Teaching them to contribute to society.

It’s equally important to acknowledge the incongruence between legislation encouraging parental accountability and legislation stripping parents of their rights.

The left supports legislation and jurisprudence at the state and federal level giving parents less authority over the upbringing of their children, including:

  • Less visibility into what their child learns at school.
  • Less or no say over treatment of their child’s sexual identity confusion or same-sex attraction.
  • Less or no visibility into their child’s social media activity.
  • Less or no visibility or say into their child’s medical treatment or decision to get an abortion.

Yet, when teenagers act out, legislators demand parents engage — an abrupt change of narrative which sticks out in the conclusion of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s X post:

My administration is creating opportunities and safe spaces for young people, but families, communities, and city leaders all have a role to play in keeping our young people safe.

A role to play? No. Parents should be the primary actors in charge of protecting their children.

Johnson’s relegation of families to a minor role elevates his government to the largest “parental” authority in children’s lives. In the world he describes, parents are but a supplement to the opportunities and safe spaces the government generates for young people.

His thinking is entirely backwards — and precisely why we find ourselves in this conundrum.

In his Politics, Aristotle argues strong civilizations are built on strong family units. History proves him right — civilizations thrive when parents can fulfill their biblical duty to love, raise, protect and provide for their kids.

Shrinking the role parents play in their children’s lives only weakens society.

Supporting parental engagement while slashing parental rights is a similarly poor strategy for combatting teenage lawlessness.

No wonder it isn’t working.

Additional Articles and Resources

Protester Mocks, Prevents Working Mom from Supporting Family

DOJ Investigates Illinois School Districts for Violating Parental Rights With LGBT Content

Ohio Court: Parents Not Required To Support Child’s ‘Transsexual Identity’

Supreme Court Smacks Down Colorado’s ‘Conversion Therapy’ Ban in 8-1 Decision

Seven Radical Abortion Bills Advance in Pennsylvania

Assassination Culture Rears Its Ugly Head Again

The SPLC Has Been ‘Poisoning Pupils’ Minds for Years’

A new report from Defending Education shows the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) Learning for Justice program contains educational materials to indoctrinate children into leftist and sexualized ideologies.  

“The Southern Poverty Law Center has been poisoning pupils’ minds around the country for years with its toxic curriculum,” Defending Education President Nicole Neily told Fox News Digital. 

Neily explained the SPLC’s effect on education, saying, “Issues such as queer theory, white privilege, and anti-racism have supplanted traditional coursework in history, social studies, and other core classes.”  

The SPLC is infamous for targeting Christian and conservative groups with its “HatewatchBlog” and “Hate Map,” as well as its recent indictment by the Department of Justice for fraud and conspiracy, using donor money to pay leaders of racist groups. 

But many do not know of its efforts to influence children with false and harmful gender ideology and critical race theory. 

The SPLC has been influencing teachers and students for 35 years, introducing its Teaching Tolerance program in 1991. The program was rebranded Learning for Justice in 2021; it promotes identity politics, homosexuality and transgenderism in K-12 classes. 

Defending Education is a national grassroots organization that informs parents about harmful agendas in public schools and promotes “the reestablishment of a quality, non-political education for all students.” 

For their efforts to improve education and protect parental rights, the SPLC labeled Defending Education “extremist” and listed it on its “Hate Map.” 

Defending Education’s exposé, “SPLC Curriculum in K-12,” explains the variety of ways SPLC materials have infiltrated our education system: 

The organization’s website and documents can be found on school district webpages, in teacher professional development and trainings, classroom lessons, district-wide curriculums, Social Emotional Learning (SEL), social justice standards, and district antiracism and equity policies and resources.

In its research, Defending Education found 42 states, 189 school districts and 30 state government agencies promote the SPLC’s website and teaching materials. But this list “is not exhaustive,” Defending Education said, adding: 

Unfortunately, the true scope of Learning for Justice’s impact on schools and districts is difficult to fully capture due to a lack of public access to curriculums, lessons, and textbooks. Additionally, because of the potential integration of the Social Justice Standards into several popular SEL curriculums, it is hard to track down all districts using the SEL programming that includes those standards.

The SPLC’s extremist education program has influenced many educators, as Family Research Council (FRC) reported in “The SPLC’s Radical Learning for Justice Program,” published in 2021: 

The SPLC delivered 900,000 copies of their Teaching Tolerance magazine in 2019 alone. The group’s magazine has been in circulation since 1991. That’s long enough for an entire generation of children influenced by the SPLC agenda to become teachers themselves.

FRC, a conservative, Christian policy organization, was also named a “Hate Group” by the SPLC. That label led to an SPLC supporter entering FRC’s offices in 2012, bent on murdering as many employees there as possible. The building manager stopped the assailant but was shot in the process. 

The report from FRC describes Learning for Justice’s (LFJ) emphasis on LGBT ideology: 

LFJ has many classroom resources on sexuality and gender. Sexual advocacy is a high priority for LFJ – most often without parental notification. Time and again in the LFJ materials, teachers and administrators are reminded NOT to share information with parents that would “out” a student’s sexuality or gender to their parents. … 

Learning for Justice’s “Best Practices for Serving LGBTQ Students” is a school climate guide that has been mailed to approximately 14,000 school districts in the country. 

FRC explains: 

The guide includes information on how to have a “gender-inclusive” school dress code; … suggests integrating “Queer Voices” into the curriculum; provides DO’s and DON’T’s for managing a student who “comes out” to a teacher at school and offers advice for managing objections from family members or anti-LGBTQ legal organizations.

Learning for Justice also created the “Queer America” podcast for educators, “an exploration of the history of sexual identity and gender identity in the United States.” 

Unsurprisingly, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), also push out SPLC educational resources. 

The NEA has listed SPLC’s Learning for Justice in a variety of educator resources, including “White Supremacy Culture Resources,” “Racial Justice in Education Resources,” and “Bias Free Schools.” 

According to Defending Education, the AFT also “promotes the use of Learning for Justice resources and lessons and has offered presentations to its members on how to integrate the Social Justice Standards into school curriculums and lessons.”

Defending Education lists districts and departments of education that have used or still use Learning for Justice as a teaching resource. The list is not comprehensive, so parents might want to check their school district or department of education’s website to see if the radical program is promoted for use in their child’s school. 

Related articles and resources: 

Cleaning House at the Southern Poverty Law Center

Defending Education: SPLC Curriculum in K-12: Learning for Justice/Teaching ToleranceTracker

DOJ Indicts SPLC for Fraud — Used Donor Money to Fund Racist Groups  

Is ‘Critical Race Theory’ Being Taught in Public Schools? CRT Deniers Claim it Isn’t

Southern Poverty Law Center Finally Names Focus on the Family a Hate Group

Southern Poverty Law Center Publishes ‘Year in Hate and Extremism’ – Continues to Target Christian Groups

SPLC Continues to Label Conservative Christian Organizations as ‘Hate Groups’

What’s Your School District’s ‘Transgender’ Policy?

If you’re concerned about what your child is being taught in school, check out this updated, free resource from Focus on the Family and Family Policy Alliance: Equipping Parents for Back-to-School.