By Katie Garcia, Freedom to Marry's Communications Intern 

 

The American Medical Association (AMA) adopted a policy position declaring that excluding same-sex couples from marriage is “discriminatory,” reaffirming the consensus among leading professional medical, scientific, and social science communities that ending the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage would provide additional support and stability to couples in committed relationships. 

The policy, H-65.973 Health Care Disparities in Same-Sex Partner Households that was adopted the AMA on June 20, states:

“Our American Medical Association: (1) recognizes that denying civil marriage based on sexual orientation is discriminatory and imposes harmful stigma on gay and lesbian individuals and couples and their families; (2) recognizes that exclusion from civil marriage contributes to health care disparities affecting same-sex households; (3) will work to reduce health care disparities among members of same-sex households including minor children; and (4) will support measures providing same-sex households with the same rights and privileges to health care, health insurance, and survivor benefits, as afforded opposite-sex households.”

This policy adopted by the AMA is the latest in a series of policies the AMA has approved to address the needs of LGBT physicians and medical students and LGBT patients. To read the full list of AMA policies regarding sexual orientation, click here.

Evan Wolfson, founder and President of Freedom to Marry, states, “With this deliberate policy statement by the American Medical Association, the nation’s doctors diagnose the pain and injury that exclusion from marriage inflicts on lesbian and gay couples, their children, and loved ones – and make clear that ending marriage discrimination is the cure.”

Other professional health organizations that support the freedom to marry include the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.