Profession
Science drives AMA adoption policy
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 5, 2004
The American Medical Association will support legislative and other efforts to allow a same-sex partner or opposite-sex non-married partner to adopt a child.
Members of the AMA House of Delegates said the issue was not a political one but one based on scientific fact that children do better psychologically in two-parent homes that promote a safe and nurturing environment.
Doctors said they have experienced medical situations in which a child's adoptive or biological parent is unable to make a decision regarding the child's care and the other person who functions as the child's parent is able to make a judgment but does not have the legal authority.
Physicians also fear that children whose biological or adoptive parents lose their health insurance would be forced to go without insurance even though the second parent would have been able to cover the child if the law allowed it.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/07/05/prbf0705.htm.
