Land, others rip doctors' group for support of same-sex adoptions
WASHINGTON (BP)--Pro-family advocates have castigated the American Academy of Pediatrics' newly announced support of adoption rights for homosexual partners.
In a new policy statement, the AAP said it backs "legislative and legal efforts to provide the possibility of adoption of the child by the second parent or coparent" in same-sex partnerships. Children born to or adopted by a homosexual "deserve the security of two legally recognized parents," the AAP said.
A "considerable body of professional literature provides evidence that children with parents who are homosexual can have the same advantages and the same expectations for health, adjustment and development as can children whose parents are heterosexual," AAP's statement said. "Denying legal parent status through adoption to coparents or second parents prevents these children from enjoying the psychologic and legal security that comes from having two willing, capable and loving parents."
Opponents of homosexual adoption criticized the policy, saying, among other criticisms, it is based on flawed studies and on an unconventional view of what is harmful.
"The tobacco industry continues to produce studies that show using tobacco is not hazardous to your health. Anybody with the money and the time can produce studies that show anything," said Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.
Reports "that show that children reared in such homes are statistically more likely themselves to become involved in same-sex relationships" would indicate there is a "harmful effect" as far as people "who believe homosexual activity is not healthy or to be preferred" are concerned, Land said.
"In the case of children who are being reared with same-sex relationships, they're exposed to these relationships 24/7," Land said. "It would seem to me that the only way you could say that being reared with such relationships is okay is if you don't see anything abnormal or unhealthy about same-sex relationships per se. That is a judgment, or lack of judgment, that the vast majority of Southern Baptists and other evangelical Christians would reject."
William Maier, a child and family psychologist at Focus on the Family, said the research the AAP cites is, at best, inconclusive.
"Studies on this topic are fraught with methodological flaws, motivated by political agendas and ultimately offer no scientific justification for this hazardous recommendation," Maier said in a written release. "It seems clear that the [AAP] has submitted to the will of homosexual activists within its ranks -- at the expense of scientific honesty and the very children it seeks to serve."
Family Research Council President Ken Connor said in a written statement, "There is an abundance of research demonstrating that children do best when raised by a mother and a father who are committed to one another in marriage. Mothers and fathers alike make significant contributions to the physical, emotional and social development of their children. To support a policy that would intentionally deprive a child of such benefits is unconscionable."
Land and other critics of the AAP policy cited a paper appearing last year in the American Sociological Review in which two University of Southern California researchers said their review of 21 studies showed significant differences between children reared by same-sex parents and heterosexual parents.
According to Judith Stacey and Timothy Biblarz, many studies appear to show children growing up with same-sex parents and in a home where homosexuality is accepted are influenced in their self-image, life goals and behavior, including sexual behavior, The New York Times reported. For instance, children of lesbian partners are more likely to engage in homosexual activity and the daughters of lesbians are "more sexually adventurous and less chaste," Family Research Council reported of the Stacey and Biblarz review of one study.
According to The Times, Stacey and Biblarz wrote in their paper, "We recognize the political dangers of pointing out that recent studies indicate that a higher proportion of children with lesbigay parents are themselves apt to engage in homosexual activity. Nonetheless, we believe that denying this probability is apt to prove counterproductive in the long run."
The Human Rights Campaign, the country's largest homosexual political organization, applauded the AAP action. HRC Executive Director Elizabeth Birch encouraged "judges, legislators and policy makers to act on the wise recommendations of this distinguished organization."
In its policy statement, the AAP recommended pediatricians become advocates for the legalization of second-parent adoption by homosexuals. The AAP's Committee on Psychological Aspects of Child and Family Health wrote the statement.
The AAP has been politicized for years, said Robert Knight, director of Concerned Women for America's Culture and Family Institute. "This is not the first time that sexual revolutionaries have used the pediatrics academy as cover," Knight said, citing AAP studies advocating "safe sex" for young people as an example. The AAP also has helped promote portions of the homosexual rights agenda, he said.
The AAP is a 55,000-member organization of pediatric health-care providers.
RELATED STORY: Judge upholds Florida ban on adoption by homosexuals.
