Hospitals in New Jersey have asked new parents for their baby’s preferred pronouns and sexual orientation.
According to a document shared by State Senator Holly Schepisi, Inspira Health have been handing out questionnaires asking parents to identify their newborns.
The form requires parents to identify their baby as either ‘male’, ‘female’, ‘transgender’, ‘genderqueer’, or ‘additional gender’.
It also asks: ‘Which of the following best describes your baby’, with answers including ‘lesbian or gay’, ‘straight’, ‘bisexual’, ‘self-describes’, ‘questioning/unsure or prefer not to answer’.
The healthcare system covers four hospitals, two cancer centers and eight health centers in South Jersey.
They made the form to comply with a new state law that required health care providers ‘to collect race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity in a culturally competent and sensitive manner.’
Schepisi posted the form to her social media and sparked disbelief amongst users who questioned its authenticity.
The lawmaker said she would introduce a bill to revise the language in the current legislation to limit the collection of information to patients 16 and older.
The form requires parents to identify their baby as either male, female, transgender , genderqueer, or additional gender
The healthcare system covers four hospitals, two cancer centers and eight health centers in South Jersey
She said: ‘Yesterday it came to my attention that medical providers, laboratories and hospitals are being forced to provide the questionnaire below to NEWBORN patients.
‘While completely and utterly insane, these facilities are doing so to comply with another nonsensical law A-4385 passed by the democratically controlled legislature in 2022.
‘This law mandates collection of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity data with no age threshold – hence newborn babies receiving the survey.
‘I will be sponsoring legislation immediately to rescind this absurd requirement which is a waste of medical professional’s time and resources.
‘PS – for anyone screaming “fake form” my legislative office directly confirmed it is indeed real with the health network this morning.
‘They had to seek a waiver from the State to discontinue using this form as they were receiving such negative feedback from their patients.
‘You may not want to believe it’s real but it is, and on the upside at least you deep down now understand how absurd things have become in NJ.’
On her post, social media users expressed their horror over the form.
State Senator Holly Schepisi posted the form to her social media and sparked disbelief amongst users who questioned its authenticity
The form requires parents to identify their baby as either male, female, transgender , genderqueer, or additional gender
On her post, social media users expressed their horror over the form.
One commented: ‘This is mental illness. What planet are we on’, while another said: ‘I can’t even believe this is what they are pushing or worrying about’.
Another added: ‘This is horrific, so now parents are assigning sexual orientation to their newborns. Talk about an agenda.’
Democratic State Senators Joseph Cryan and Angela McKnight introduced the bill in June 2022 but declined to comment when approached by The New York Post.
In a statement, Democrat Herbert Conaway, who also worked on the bill, said: ‘The bill was modeled after an Indiana statute and is designed to provide public health officials with the data they need to develop public health measures that effectively serve all New Jerseyans.
‘Good policy depends on the availability of complete and accurate data. Under the law, hospitals are required to collect and report demographic data on the patients they serve; however, no patient or parent is obligated to answer any question that makes them uncomfortable.
‘Newborns are not subjected to this data collection because parents are not required to fill out the form. Many health decisions for newborns are left to the parents’ discretion.’
An Inspira Health spokesperson said the form was ‘required by New Jersey law’ and parents ‘are permitted to decline to provide this information.’
