GAINESVILLE, Fla., April 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was released today by the American College of Pediatricians:

Children's rights have suffered a severe blow in the last week. Iowa and Vermont became the third and fourth states to redefine marriage and in so doing has jeopardized every child's right to be nurtured by a mother and a father. Of particular concern, the Iowa Supreme Court defended its decision with the brazen statement that, "The traditional notion that children need a mother and a father to be raised into healthy, well-adjusted adults is based more on stereotype than anything else." This is categorically false. Over three decades of social science research confirms and reconfirms that men and women parent differently, and that children thrive best across all areas of development when reared by their biologic mother and father in a low-conflict marriage.

During the last two decades, medical research has even confirmed the existence of genetically-determined gender differences in brain anatomy, neural pathways, cognitive processing, and hormone physiology. These account for differences in how men and women relate to people and the world around them, which in turn explains why parenting differences between the genders are not mere social constructs. Mothers and fathers are not interchangeable and neither is dispensable. Two women cannot compensate for the absence of a father, and two men cannot fill the unique role of a mother. In addition, social science research clearly demonstrates that the further society deviates from the model of the fundamental mother/father family unit, the more children and society suffer.

The American College of Pediatricians asks, in hope and challenge, when will legislatures and the courts place the real needs of children ahead of or at least on an equal plane with the wants of adults?

SOURCE American College of Pediatricians