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Revision as of 08:18, 17 November 2010 by Ckatz (talk | contribs) (User warned again)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) is a medical association of religous conservative pediatricians and other healthcare professionals in the United States. The College was founded in 2002 by Dr. Joseph Zanga, in response to the American Academy of Pediatrics's support for LGBT parental rights. Zanga has described ACP as a group "with Judeo-Christian, traditional values that is open to pediatric medical professionals of all religions who hold true to the group's core beliefs: that life begins at conception; and that the traditional family unit, headed by an opposite-sex couple, poses far fewer risk factors in the adoption and raising of children."
Issue positions
The positions taken by the American College of Pediatricians are socially conservative. These positions include:
- The prohibition of parenting by homosexuals
- The limiting of children's access to television and other media
- Opposition to legislation requiring HPV vaccines
- Opposition to the legalization of marijuana
- Opposition to abortion
Opposition
PFLAG identifies the American College of Pediatricians as an anti-equality organization, describing the group as "small splinter group of medical professionals who do not support the mainstream view of the American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP) that homosexuality is a normal aspect of human diversity."
Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D, Director of the National Institutes of Health, NIH, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, made the following statement regarding the American College of Pediatricians on April 15, 2010:
"It is disturbing for me to see special interest groups distort my scientific observations to make a point against homosexuality. The American College of Pediatricians pulled language out of context from a book I wrote in 2006 to support an ideology that can cause unnecessary anguish and encourage prejudice. The information they present is misleading and incorrect, and it is particularly troubling that they are distributing it in a way that will confuse school children and their parents."
In 2010, a letter and "fact sheet" about teen sexual orientation and gender confusion, challenged as non-factual by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association, were mailed to 14,800 school superintendents on behalf of Tom Benton, president of the American College of Pediatricians. The letter primarily addressed same-sex attraction, and recommended that “well-intentioned but misinformed school personnel” who encourage students to “come out as gay” and affirm them as such may lead the students into “harmful homosexual behaviors that they otherwise would not pursue.” The letter also stated that gender identity disorder will typically disappear by puberty “if the behavior is not reinforced.”
References
- "History of ACPeds".
- Kranish, Michael (2005-07-31). "Beliefs drive research agenda of new think tanks". boston.com. Retrieved 2007-10-21.
- Pro-Life Pediatric Group Stands Contrary to Established American Academy of Pediatrics
- "Position Statements". American College of Pediatricians. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
- "Anti-Equality Organizations". PFLAG. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
- "Statement from NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., in Response to the American College of Pediatricians". 2010-04-16. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
- "Doctors debate the facts surrounding sexual orientation and gender confusion". 2010-06-23. Retrieved 2010-06-23.