LANSING, MI, December 18, 2002 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Catholic Medical Association has charged the Michigan State Medical Society (MSMS) with caving in to pressure from gay activists in its sudden decision to revoke Continuing Medical Education credits (CMEs) for a conference for health professionals, which it had originally accredited in August 2002.
“This politically-driven decision by MSMS is a form of censorship that infringes on academic freedom, medical ethics and scientific pursuit,” said Dr. Robert J. Saxer, National President of the Catholic Medical Association (CMA).
The conference, “Understanding the Gift of Sexuality,” was sponsored by the Lansing Guild of the Catholic Medical Association and held at the University of Michigan on December 7th. It featured two lectures on same sex attraction in which Richard Fitzgibbons, M.D., presented the three recent research studies reported in the AMA Archives of General Psychiatry from the Netherlands, New Zealand and the U.S. which have shown that those with homosexuality have a much greater prevalence of psychiatric disorders. He stated that this research should be communicated to establish informed consent by physicians, mental health professionals and educators to children, teenagers and adults, who are encouraged to accept a homosexual identity either in school or in therapy. Dr. Fitzgibbons also discussed the treatment of gender identity disorder in children and the emotional origins and therapy of same sex attraction. The recent research by Dr. Robert Spitzer, M.D. of Columbia School of Medicine on healing and recovery was also covered. On November 26th, 2002, the Michigan State Medical Society (MSMS) abruptly revoked its approval for CME accreditation, citing criticism from gay rights activists. The Society also indicated that it sought consultation with the American Psychiatric Association, the organization that removed same sex attraction as a mental disorder in 1973 in response to gay rights protests, and concluded that “therapy is not effective for people with same sex attractions.” In response to the MSMS action, Catherine Dowling, M.D., President of the CMA Lansing Guild, together with the Thomas More Center for Law and Justice and several psychologists and psychiatrists around the country, provided the MSMS a comprehensive bibliography of articles on each side of the debate. They also sent a presentation by Dr. Spitzer, M.D. describing characteristics of 200 people who claimed to have changed sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual. Notably, Dr. Spitzer, an architect of the 1973 American Psychiatric Association decision, reversed his position and now believes that same-sex attraction is a reversible and treatable condition, if the individual wishes to change. “What is at stake here is the ability for medical organizations and health care professionals to present information that is grounded in literature in an academic setting,” said Dr. Dowling. “The advancement of medical knowledge is dependent on the ability of the medical community to engage in debate and discussion of the medical literature and studies being conducted.”
See the Catholic Medical Association on the web at: www.cathmed.org