By EDWARD MARSHALL / Journal Staff Writer

MARTINSBURG — Members of Men and Women Against Discrimination and the Children’s Rights Initiative For Sharing Parents Equally staged a rally and met with state lawmakers during interim meetings in Martinsburg on Sunday.

“We are fighting legislators to pass new laws concerning the family law system. It would enable our parents to have equal access to their children,” Fred E. Schermerhorn, Men And Women Against Discrimination Region III coordinator, said Sunday.

Teresa Lowe, of Huntington, and Mike Avers, of Keyser, show signs to passersby Sunday during a Men and Women Against Discrimination demonstration in front of the Holiday Inn on Foxcroft Avenue in Martinsburg. (Journal photo by Jason Turner)

The group is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Vienna. One of its goals is to improve child custody laws for noncustodial parents, grandparents and siblings, and eliminate what advocates say is the alienation of children from their parents as a result of limited or nonexistent visitation rights.

“We’re also fighting on behalf of our children to protect their well-being. All you hear when you go into court is, what is in the best interest of the children?” Schermerhorn said. “What the public fails to realize is what is really in the best interest of our children is their emotional health.”

He said studies prove there are significant psychological effects on a child when the court system removes one parent in a significant manner. Some of the statistics he cited show that children in such situations are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, have a higher rate of teenage pregnancy or are more likely to engage in gang activity.

“These are just some of the portion of the statistics that come from a fatherless home where one parent has been significantly removed out of the child’s life,” Schermerhorn said.

The same holds true, members say, for mothers removed from the home or who are denied visitation rights following a divorce.

Currently, Men and Women against Discrimination has about 1,200 members across the state and continues to grow. The group has proposed four bills, two to the Senate and two before the House of Delegates. The two proposed to the House focus on establishing a joint parenting act and a new law concerning contested paternity.

“We’re trying to get them passed into law. As it stands now, it looks like we’ve got about 80 percent of senators standing behind us as well many in the House of Delegates,” Schermerhorn said. “We’re all about business, and we’re going to get these laws changed.”

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— Staff writer Edward Marshall can be reached at (304) 263-8931, ext. 215, or emarshall@journal-news.net

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