(Natural News) A medical student who attends the University of Würtzberg in Germany recently gave a TEDx talk during which she tried to argue that it's perfectly normal for some adults to be sexually attracted to children.

According to Mirjam Heine, pedophilia is just another sexual orientation like heterosexuality. Pedophiles are born that way, she says, and thus deserve to be treated just like everybody else without having to be shamed or mocked.

Because "anyone could be born a pedophile," it's important to treat pedophiles with dignity, Heine says. And while she does admit that living out one's life as a pedophile "will end in disaster," she insists that it's not because of the practice itself, but rather because of how society treats pedophiles.

"We shouldn't increase the sufferings of pedophiles by excluding them, by blaming and mocking them," Heine is quoted as saying, adding that it's a problem that pedophiles are currently unable to "be completely frank with someone else" about their sexual attractions to children.

"By doing that, we increase their isolation and we increase the chance of child sexual abuse."

Heine: everyone needs to overcome their "negative feelings" about pedophiles

While the vast majority of people would agree that pedophiles aren't just like everybody else, Heine says they are. Just as all the rest of us "are not responsible for our feelings," Heine argues, neither are pedophiles.

"We do not choose them … but it is our responsibility to … overcome our negative feelings about pedophiles and to treat them with the same respect we treat other people with," she told her audience.

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Perhaps not surprisingly, Heine's statements drew intense criticism – so much so that TEDX ultimately decided to pull her video from its official YouTube account. Heine herself had asked that the video be pulled as well, on the grounds that it would lead to "serious misinterpretation," as well as put her own personal safety at risk.