American College of Pediatricians

The American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) is a socially conservative advocacy group of pediatricians and other healthcare professionals in the United States.[1] The group was founded in 2002. In 2005, it reportedly had between 150 and 200 members and one employee; in 2016 it reportedly had 500 physician members.[2][3] The group's primary focus is advocating against abortion and the adoption of children by gay or lesbian people. It also advocates conversion therapy.[4][5]

This article is about a socially conservative advocacy group. For the professional association of pediatricians, see American Academy of Pediatrics.
American College of Pediatricians
Founded2002 (2002)
FoundersGerry Boccarossa and Joseph Zanga
Type501(c)(3)
47-0886878
Location
Members
500 (estimated)
Revenue (2015)
$88,991
Expenses (2015)$78,761
Websitewww.acpeds.org

The organization's view on parenting differs from the position of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which holds that sexuality has no connection with the ability to be a good parent and to raise healthy and well-adjusted children.[3][6][7] ACPeds has been listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for "pushing anti-LGBT junk science".[4] A number of mainstream researchers, including the director of the US National Institutes of Health, have accused ACPeds of misusing or mischaracterizing their work to advance ACPeds' political agenda.[8][9]

Founding and membership

The group was founded in 2002 by a group of pediatricians, including Joseph Zanga, a past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), as a protest against the AAP's support for adoption by gay couples.[8][2] ACPeds reports its membership at "over 500 physicians and other healthcare professionals".[10][3]

Positions

ACPeds has vehemently condemned the American Psychological Association as a "gay-affirming program" that "devalues self-restraint" and supports "a child's autonomy from the authority of both family and religion, and from the limits and norms these institutions place on children".[11] ACPeds also has adopted positions strongly opposed to parental affirmation and medical interventions in support of non-traditional or transgender gender identities in children.[12]

Publications

In response to the publication by the medical and professional organization American Academy of Pediatrics of Just the Facts, a handbook on teen sexual orientation aimed at a school audience, ACPeds issued its own publication, Facts About Youth, in March 2010,[8] accompanied by a web site. Facts About Youth, along with a cover letter, was mailed to 14,800 school superintendents on behalf of Tom Benton, president of ACPeds. Facts About Youth was challenged as not acknowledging the scientific and medical evidence regarding sexual orientation, sexual identity, sexual health, or effective health education by the American Academy of Pediatrics.[13]

The ACPeds letter to the superintendents 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 ACPeds letter to the superintendents also stated that gender dysphoria will typically disappear by puberty "if the behavior is not reinforced" and similarly alleged that "most students (over 85 percent) with same-sex attractions will ultimately adopt a heterosexual orientation if not otherwise encouraged."[14][15]

Reception

Some scientists have voiced concerns that ACPeds mischaracterized or misused their work to advance its political agenda.[8][9] Gary Remafedi, a pediatrician at the University of Minnesota, wrote ACPeds a public letter accusing them of fundamentally mischaracterizing his research in their publications to argue that schools should deny support to gay teenagers. Francis Collins, a geneticist and director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), issued a statement through the NIH accusing the ACPeds of misleading children and parents on its Facts About Youth website.[9] Warren Throckmorton, a therapist who specializes in sexual orientation issues, similarly stated that his research had been misused, saying of ACPeds: "They say they're impartial and not motivated by political or religious concerns, but if you look at who they're affiliated with and how they're using the research, that's just obviously not true."[8]

In an amicus brief regarding the removal of a child from the foster home of a same-sex couple (Kutil and Hess v West Virginia) the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) described ACPeds as a "small and marginal group" which was "out of step with the research-based position of the AAP and other medical and child welfare authorities".[3] The LGBT advocacy organization PFLAG categorizes the ACPeds as an anti-equality organization, describing the group as a "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".[16]

The American College of Pediatricians has been described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a "hate group", and a "fringe group" which closely collaborates with the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) with "a history of propagating damaging falsehoods about LGBT people, including linking homosexuality to pedophilia".[17][11][18] In response to an ACPeds brief, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote that ACPeds is a fringe group that has acted to promote "unscientific and harmful 'reparative therapies' for LGBTQ students".[19][20][15]

Surgical oncologist David Gorski has said that statements from ACPeds have been used by quack sites like Natural News to push anti-vaccine agenda. Gorski has pointed out that organizations spreading misinformation regarding HPV vaccine often cite ACPed. Gorski states, "Antivaccinationists have a special hatred for Gardasil. That hatred seems to be based on the fact that HPV vaccines are used to prevent a sexually-transmitted virus, the rationale somehow being that the use of such a vaccine will 'encourage promiscuity.' It's even been called the 'promiscuity vaccine.' Never mind that the evidence is quite clear that this claim is simply not true. Never mind that anyone who remembers their own adolescence clearly would know that fear of catching HPV and then developing cervical cancer 20 or 30 years down the road is not a major concern among teens as their hormones rage. None of this matters to the people making these claims, however."[21]

See also

References
  1. Larsen, Allison Orr (2014), "The Trouble with Amicus Facts" (PDF), Virginia Law Review, 100 (8): 1762, archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-02-26, retrieved 2016-05-23
  2. Kranish, Michael (July 31, 2005). "Beliefs drive research agenda of new think tanks". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on February 8, 2006. Retrieved October 21, 2007.
  3. "Crossing Over". Proto Magazine. Massachusetts General Hospital. June 10, 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-10-25. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
  4. "AMERICAN COLLEGE OF PEDIATRICIANS". Extremist Files. Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on 2018-07-31. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
  5. Allen, Samantha (6 April 2016). "The Religious Right's Favorite Medical Association Is a Hate Group". Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  6. Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child Family Health (February 2002). "Coparent or second-parent adoption by same-sex parents". Pediatrics. 109 (2): 339–40. doi:10.1542/peds.109.2.339. PMID 11826219.
  7. "Policy Statement—AAP publications retired and reaffirmed". Pediatrics. 124 (2): 845. August 2009. doi:10.1542/peds.2009-1415. PMID 19651598.
  8. Pinto, Nick (May 26, 2010). "University of Minnesota professor's research hijacked". City Pages. Archived from the original on November 17, 2010. Retrieved November 17, 2010.
  9. Collins, Francis (April 16, 2010). "Response to the American College of Pediatricians". National Institutes of Health. Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
  10. Beale, Stephen (November 11, 2016). "Lawsuits Challenge Federal 'Transgender Mandate'". NC Register. Archived from the original on 2016-11-14. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  11. Lenz, Ryan (March 1, 2012). "American College of Pediatricians Defames Gays and Lesbians in the Name of Protecting Children". Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on 2015-09-19. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
  12. American College of Physicians (16 July 2019). "Letter to the Surgeon General" (PDF).
  13. "Just the Facts About Sexual Orientation and Youth". American Academy of Pediatrics. April 13, 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-11-19. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  14. Horton, Greg (June 23, 2010). "Doctors debate the facts surrounding sexual orientation and gender confusion". Oklahoma Gazette. Archived from the original on 2014-12-19. Retrieved November 17, 2010.
  15. Coleman, Theara (June 24, 2010). "Misinformation from Doctors… Out to Hurt Students?". American Civil Liberties Union. Archived from the original on 2016-04-05. Retrieved 2016-03-25.
  16. "Anti-Equality Organizations". PFLAG. Archived from the original on 2010-12-29. Retrieved November 17, 2010.
  17. "Meet the Anti-LGBT Hate Group that Filed an Amicus Brief with the Alabama Supreme Court". Southern Poverty Law Center. November 13, 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-04-05. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  18. Oatman, Maddie. "Dr. Jen Gunter wants to protect your vagina from Gwyneth Paltrow". Mother Jones. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  19. "Does Focus on the Family Speak for Your Family?". American Civil Liberties Union. Archived from the original on 2016-04-05. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  20. "In re: Gill - About the American College of Pediatricians". American Civil Liberties Union. Archived from the original on 2016-05-27. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  21. Gorski, David. "One more time: There's no evidence Gardasil causes premature ovarian failure". ScienceBlogs. ScienceBlogs. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
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