The Star
The Senate continued hearing testimony
Wednesday on a bill that would allow
gay couples to adopt.
The legislation, Senate Bill 437, which is
before the Senate Judiciary, Security and Veterans Committee, is aimed at amending the
Civil Code to allow adoptions by gay couples
by legalizing second parent adoptions.
The Association of Physicians and Surgeons of Puerto Rico and other organizations
favored the bill. However, Luisa Burgos, director of the Guadalupe Center and Family
Life, urged the Legislature to reject it contending that children adopted by traditional families are more stable than those living with
same-sex couples.
She noted that same-sex couples tend to be
more promiscuous than traditional couples and
do not provide a stable environment for children.
The president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Puerto Rico, Eduardo
Ibarra, said the amendment is necessary to to
safeguard the welfare of the minor and the
best interests of the child.
Ibarra said public health professionals
from the Academy of Pediatrics oppose the
prevailing arguments in Puerto Rico against
the adequacy of allowing same-sex couples to
adopt because they don’t focus on the best interests of the child.
Burgos, on the other hand, told lawmakers that the press is being used to lobby
lawmakers to vote in favor of certain gay
rights bills disregarding scientifi c research.
She said that in 1952, the American Psychiatric Association declared homosexuality
a mental disorder but was forced to change
because of media pressure.
“In 1973, homosexuality was removed
from the list of mental disorders,” she said.
“The removal of homosexuality from the list
of mental disorders was not based on solid
fi ndings about human sexuality. Despite medical evidence that was never refuted, the
change was due to a massive campaign of
intimidation and propaganda of homosexual
activists and a few psychiatrists going for it
that began in the 1960s.”
She noted that sexual promiscuity and
emotional instability between couples of the
same sex does not offer a safe, healthy and
stable environment to minors.
“There is also the possibility, greater
than in heterosexual households, that in some
of these homes of homosexuals, children will
suffer more anxiety and stress, exposed to pornography and sexual activity, and the possibility of being sexually abused,” Burgos said.
