Out In The Mountains : News - Pediatricians Applaud Report

Pediatricians Applaud Report
Professional Group Backs
Same-Sex Marriage and Parenting

      WASHINGTON, D.C. - A study published in the July issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, finds that marriage can enrich the lives of children being raised by gay or lesbian parents. “The Effects of Marriage, Civil Union, and Domestic Partnership Laws on the Health and Well-Being of Children,” written by Jim Pawelski, director of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Division of State Government Affairs, and several other members of the Academy of Pediatrics, supports the position of members of Pro Family Pediatricians, a national coalition of more than 1,000 pediatricians, that same-sex couples and their children deserve the same protections as other American families. The study comes as the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to take up the discriminatory Federal Marriage Amendment to the Constitution later this month. The U.S. Senate firmly rejected the amendment in June.
       Ellen C. Perrin, M.D., one of the authors of the report and Chair of Pro-Family Pediatricians stated, “The scientific data overwhelmingly demonstrate that there is no relationship between parents’ sexual orientation and any measure of children’s emotional, psychosocial, and behavioral adjustment. We conclude that civil marriage is beneficial to children, regardless of the gender of the parents, because it strengthens families and helps foster financial and legal security, psychosocial stability, and an augmented sense of societal acceptance and support.”
       Legislation seeking to deny same-sex families and their children the same legal rights and protections guaranteed to all other two parent families leads to a host of health care deprivations: limited hospital visitation, inability to authorize treatment, inadequate insurance coverage and other obstacles to health care and financial security for same-sex parents and their children.
      “This study reaffirms that hundreds of thousands of American children are thriving in homes headed by same-sex couples and that discriminatory laws denying marriage and civil unions will only hurt families, not protect them,” said Dr. Ellen Perrin, “I hope that this scientific, peer-reviewed evidence will encourage lawmakers to abandon dangerous legislation aimed at banning marriage for same gender couples and instead advance public policies that benefit all children and families.”
      The 2000 Census found that same-sex couples are raising children together in 96 percent of all counties in the United States. Repeated medical and psychological studies have found no measurable difference in mental health, socialization or quality of relationships with parents between children raised by same-sex couples and those raised by married heterosexual couples. As such, organizations of health care professionals, such as the American Psychological Association, have adopted measures supporting same-sex marriage and parenting.

Press release from Pro-Family Pediatricians, a national grassroots coalition of more than 1,000 pediatricians who are opposed to the Federal Marriage Amendment due to its potential harmful impact on the health and security of our nation’s children. More information is available at profamilypediatricians.org