Massachusetts bill aims to remove gendered language from birth laws to 'ensure legal parentage equality'

A new bill making its way though the Massachusetts legislature aims to remove all mentions of "mother" and "father" and replace them with gender-neutral alternatives. Proponents of Bill H.4750 have argued that it will "ensure legal parentage equality."

Should the bill be signed into law, all instances of the traditional terms for the male and female individuals necessary to bring a life into the world will be erased from the "Return and Registry of Births, Marriages, and Deaths" chapter of the state's General Laws, with "person who gave birth" and "parent" taking their place. "Paternity" and "a man and a woman" are also replaced by "parentage" and "persons," respectively.



Also on the chopping block are terms such as "his" or "hers." Instead, the document would say "their" regardless of which parent was being discussed, or "the defendant's" during legal proceedings related to the child. A line which currently reads, "father unless he is or was the mother's husband" would be changed to "parent unless they are or were the spouse."

The legislation was passed by the state House on June 12 and sent to the state Senate, both of which are dominated by Democrats. It is currently being reviewed by the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

This is just the latest in a series of attempts by politicians and organizations to replace age-old terms with new, gender-neutral alternatives in the name of "equality." In addition to the aforementioned changes, other groups have pushed for "breastfeeding" to be referred to as "chestfeeding" to accommodate transgender people. A number of words that, until recently, did not even exist outside the smallest niches of academia have become more mainstream, as those who oppose gendered language try to force the public to adhere to their worldview.