In Brief

Supreme Court Gay-Marriage Rulings Good For Kids, Docs Say

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By Rachael Rettner
published

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(Image credit: Gay marriage via Shutterstock)

Today's Supreme Court decisions on same-sex marriage will benefit children, according to the nation's largest group of pediatrics.

In a statement, Dr. Thomas K. McInerny, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said the decisions "paved a new way forward for all children."

McInerny said that allowing gay marriage "is the best way to guarantee benefits and security for their children." Scientific studies show that parents' sexual orientation does not harm a children's well-being, he said.

“The American Academy of Pediatrics has a long history of advocating for public policies that help all children and their parents — regardless of sexual orientation — build and maintain strong, stable and healthy families that meet the needs of their children."

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy also addressed the issue of children's well-being in writing the court's majority opinion that struck the Defense of Marriage Act.

DOMA "humiliates tens of thousands of children now being raised by same-sex couples. The law in question makes it even more difficult for the children to understand the integrity and closeness of their own family and its concord with other families in their community and in their daily lives," Kennedy said.

Rachael Rettner
Rachael Rettner
Contributor

Rachael is a Live Science contributor, and was a former channel editor and senior writer for Live Science between 2010 and 2022. She has a master's degree in journalism from New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program. She also holds a B.S. in molecular biology and an M.S. in biology from the University of California, San Diego. Her work has appeared in Scienceline, The Washington Post and Scientific American.