Democratic South Dakota state congresswoman Rep. Erin Healy took to Twitter Monday to criticize the Family Heritage Alliance, calling the group "extremist" for promoting the idea that a child benefits from the support of a married mom and dad.
"Extremist group Family Heritage Alliance said this morning that the safest place for kids are in families that have a married mom and dad," Healy tweeted. "What a dangerous and un-American belief."
The Family Heritage Alliance works with like-minded churches and organizations to help South Dakota become a state "where God is honored, religious freedom flourishes, families thrive, and life is valued," according to its website.
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"The marriage of a man and a woman and their ability to raise their children is foundational to the strength of a nation," the group states on its website regarding marriage and family. "We believe that strengthening our families, defending parental rights and defending a natural definition of marriage are critical to achieving a strong and healthy nation."
"Rep. Healy has completely disregarded what we know to be true about children and families," Family Heritage Alliance told Fox News Digital. "Growing up in the home of a married biological mother and father is the single largest predictor of success later in life. It’s highly ironic that she describes a well-known fact about child safety as dangerous and un-American."
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Healy "focuses on legislation that will improve conditions in South Dakota for families and children and is especially interested in work surrounding early education, women’s healthcare, and child advocacy," according to her website. She also outlines her objectives and goals for healthy families, education and economy among her constituency, but her platform does not specifically mention marriage or her familial values.
The tweet sparked backlash across Twitter, which prompted Healy to limit who could reply to her tweet, but Republicans and conservative commentators quote-tweeted their outraged responses instead.
"Ok groomer," author and cultural critic James A Lindsey said in response to Healy's tweet.
"This is Erin. She is a moron," Publisher of Texas Scorecard, Michael Quinn Sullivan, tweeted.
"Functioning nuclear families are now ‘dangeous and unAmerican,'" Executive Editor of the Common Sense Society Christopher Bedford tweeted. "What a sick world we live in."
"Erin doesn’t realize that comments like this can cause candidates to lose unexpectedly," American Principles Project President Terry Schilling tweeted.
"This is well established, uncontroversial, and obviously not un-American to believe," Heritage Foundation Senior Research Fellow Jay W. Richards tweeted. "How sealed does one's echo chamber have to be to tweet something like this?"
