By: Jared Evan

In a move that defies common sense, New Jersey hospitals are now asking new parents to identify their newborn babies’ sexual orientation and preferred gender identity—despite the fact that newborns can’t even control their own movements, let alone articulate a sexual preference.

The NY Post uncovered this insanity

The mind-boggling requirement comes from Inspira Health’s “Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Questionnaire,” a form that asks parents to label their baby as “Male, Female, Transgender, Gender Queer,” or even an “Additional gender category.”

The form doesn’t stop there. It also asks parents to describe their newborn as “Lesbian or gay, Straight or heterosexual, Self-described, or Questioning/Unsure.”

This bizarre policy is the result of a New Jersey law requiring healthcare providers to collect race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity data in a “culturally competent and sensitive manner.” Inspira Health, which operates four hospitals, two cancer centers, and eight health centers across South Jersey, implemented the form last year to comply with the mandate.

However, critics—ranging from parents to lawmakers—are slamming the requirement as not just nonsensical but a complete waste of time and resources.

“That form is completely crazy, and anyone who would dictate a baby’s sexual orientation probably has an agenda,” said Sandy Anello, a Bridgewater, NJ, mother of two. “If I was told to fill this out, I’d rip it up in front of them. It feels like we’ve entered ‘The Twilight Zone.’”

Jersey City mom-to-be Carsen Rodgers, due in April, was equally stunned. “Identifying my baby as gay on Day 1 is insane,” she said. “I had no idea about this form, and I’m shocked.”

New Jersey State Senator Holly Schepisi (R-Bergen) echoed these sentiments, calling the form “completely devoid of common sense” and questioning its usefulness.

“As a mom myself, I know you’re exhausted after giving birth, you’ve got a crying newborn, and you’re trying to figure out how to feed it. To be handed that sort of form in the midst of all that has no medical value. It makes no sense,” Schepisi said.

Government Overreach or Something More?

Schepisi, who shared a photo of the form on Facebook, was met with widespread disbelief, with many questioning whether the form was even real. She has since pledged to introduce legislation limiting the collection of such data to patients aged 16 and older.

The law in question was a last-minute addition to a legislative package approved by Trenton on June 30, 2022. Schepisi questioned how such an intrusive and bizarre requirement was enacted with virtually no public debate.

“What was the genesis of this bill?” she asked. “How did it move so quickly with barely any committee hearings on it?”

The bill was introduced by Democratic State Senators Joseph Cryan and Angela McKnight, both of whom have refused to comment on the controversy. Former Assemblyman Herbert Conaway, who helped craft the legislation, defended the policy, claiming it was modeled after an Indiana statute and was designed to provide public health officials with better demographic data.

Parental Backlash and Legal Loopholes

Despite the outrage, state officials maintain that parents are not technically “required” to answer the questions on the form. “Newborns are not subjected to this data collection because parents are not required to fill out the form,”