Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Rockaway) today introduced a bill to allow parents fifteen days from the date of a child’s live birth for registration of that birth. This change, cosponsored by Assemblyman Michael Simanowitz (D-Flushing) and Assemblywoman Vivian Cook (D-Jamaica), would both help ease bureaucratic pressure on new mothers (at a time of increasing awareness of postpartum stress), and make accommodations for religious traditions that confer a child’s name several days after birth.

“I represent a large Orthodox Jewish community, and this is a crucial issue here,” said Pheffer Amato. “Not everybody is named at birth. If your religious tradition dictates that you give your child a name eight days later, the state forces you to either submit a name prematurely, or go through the time and expense of filing birth certificates twice. That’s a double standard that must end. Also, as a mother – any extension you can get to help attend to the myriad responsibilities of those all-important first few weeks is a big help. So I see this as win-win.

“This is a tweak that will help hundreds of thousands of families, and hurt no one,” continued Pheffer Amato. “It’s time to accommodate all families equally, from all religious backgrounds, in the naming of their children. I call on my fellow legislators to support this commonsense measure.”