The Karol Markowicz Show: Are Pediatricians Putting Politics Ahead of Kids? With Alleigh Marre

Karol Markowicz (0:01)

Hi, and welcome back to The Karol Markowicz Show on iHeartRadio. My guest today is Alleigh Marre. She's Executive Director of the American Parents Coalition. Hi, Alleigh, so nice to have you on.

Alleigh Marre (0:12)

Thanks for having me.

Karol Markowicz (0:14)

So your group, American Parents Coalition, you defend the rights of children and their parents, and you do a lot of really great work. Can you tell us a little about it?

Alleigh Marre (0:26)

Yeah. So basically, we're focused on all issues important to parents and families, which has become a big swath of issues, mostly in three categories, healthcare and health, culture broadly, and then education. That touches a lot of things. Right now, we're really focused on the American Academy of Pediatrics and what's going on with them, but also like girls' sports and spaces, having privacy and access to women-only spaces for girls growing up, and the way that parents are mobilizing to protect that. That's where we're spending a lot of time right now.

Karol Markowicz (1:03)

So your group has developed a step-by-step guide to determine whether a child's pediatrician or healthcare provider is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Now, that group has gotten pretty fringy, definitely pro-trans, and that kind of thing.

What do you say to parents to make them understand that this isn't the group that they think it is?

Alleigh Marre (1:28)

Yeah, and I think what you just touched on is probably the most insidious part of this, is we all grew up knowing and trusting these organizations, and as I became a parent looking into these and my pediatrician, my school, et cetera, you're like, oh, wow, this is not what it was when I was growing up, which is such a funny kind of cliche, but it's very true. A perfect example of that is in 2025 at the American Academy of Pediatrics Leadership Summit, they vote on their priorities and their members voted for their number one priority, 98 percent of members present at the conference voted for access to and securing funding for cross-sex hormones and these sex change procedures as their number one priority. That's ahead of things like childhood obesity and activity, highly processed foods. I mean, anything that's actually truly health related and on the minds of parents and families took a backseat to this very political and ideological issue. From that, we were trying to think of ways where we could help parents understand if their pediatrician is a part of the American Academy of Pediatrics. And if so, not that they're necessarily a quote bad or ideological pediatrician, but there are questions that you should ask to make sure that they're not taking the recommendations of the AAP just hook line and sinker.

So on our website, American Academy, or excuse me, americanparentscoalition.org, we have a lot of resources. This AAP-1 is one of many that we've been developing for similar situations. And it just gives you a list of questions that you can go through with your pediatrician, asking them where they stand on these things, and then also just some kind of background information and talking points for you, so you can feel educated on it.

And prepared going into that conversation, because it can be really enlightening to go in and see the white hole and stuff, who's supposed to be caring for you and your kids and has done all this schooling. So just to make sure that you as the parent are comfortable with what you're asking about and advocating for.

Karol Markowicz (3:40)

I know your group focuses on parents, but I think the pediatricians need to know what the American Academy of Pediatrics is up to. I'm not sure that a lot of pediatricians know what goes on. I think they join this group because they think they have to and because it's just sort of the next step in their becoming a pediatrician process.

How do we get the message out to pediatricians? Or is that through the parents?

Alleigh Marre (4:06)

I think that's part of it. And I think you're totally right that there's this cache and reputation that comes with being a part of these so-called professional organizations. And we've seen this with librarians. We've seen this with teachers. It's this takeover at the top by these ideological and political forces that then trickles down. And yes, it does change the hearts and minds of many of the members, but not all.

And time and time again, when you see parents start asking these questions, you hear more stories that kind of give you faith writ large in teachers and doctors, et cetera, where teachers and doctors are pushing back on that and saying, well, hold on, not so much here, not in this practice. But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't be asking those questions. I think you're right. I think a lot of it needs to come from parents. They need to understand that we do care about these issues. They're not fringe issues. One other thing that I think is really important, that's AAP specific for parents to ask about, is what they coach their members on as far as privacy, for how these appointments go for kids. So you have the trans issue, but I think something that's even bigger is these pediatricians are coached by the AAP that any conversation that happens outside of your shot of the parents stays between the parent and the doctor. Now, again, this is pediatrician, so we're talking about minors.