It's good news that half our boys are not being circumcised.
That means that one of the most nonsensical reasons for circumcision, that parents want him to "fit in" with the others, no longer exists. Half of the others will not be mutilated.
"The official viewpoint of KNMG (The Royal Dutch Medical Association) and other related medical/scientific organizations is that non-therapeutic circumcision of male minors is a violation of children's rights to autonomy and physical integrity. Contrary to popular belief, circumcision can cause complications - bleeding, infection, urethral stricture and panic attacks are particularly common. KNMG is therefore urging a strong policy of deterrence. KNMG is calling upon doctors to actively and insistently inform parents who are considering the procedure of the absence of medical benefits and the danger of complications." ~The Royal Dutch Medical Association
"Current understanding of the benefits, risks and potential harm of this procedure no longer supports this practice for prophylactic health benefit. Routine infant male circumcision performed on a healthy infant is now considered a non-therapeutic and medically unnecessary intervention." ~College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia
"[We] do not support recommending circumcision as a routine procedure for newborns." ~The Canadian Paediatric Society
"The BMA considers that the evidence concerning health benefits from non-therapeutic circumcision is insufficient for this alone to be a justification for doing it." ~The British Medical Association
"...the level of protection offered by circumcision and complication rate of circumcision do not warrant a recommendation of universal circumcision for newborn and infant males in an Australian and New Zealand context." ~The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP)
Half of Americans are still doing it, because they believe the press releases from the CDC, AMA, and AAP. These read like, "there's no medical reason to circumcise your baby, but when you do...". Read the Mayo Clinic's advice. It uses the word "may" about a hundred times...there is not one proven benefit listed. Most people don't have the time to dig a little deeper, and come up with the studies that show it does little or no good, and in fact, does a lot of harm. Here's a study done on Americans, for a change: http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/MeetingAbstracts/ma?f=102282676.html
Here's one which shows no benefit with HPV, also American: http://journals.lww.com/stdjournal/Abstract/publishahead/Circumcision_and_Acquisition_of_Human.98923.aspx
and a companion piece: http://intactnews.org/node/119/1314979135/circumcision-does-not-prevent-hpv-infection-rct-data-039inflated039-study-finds
Nobody wants to find out that much or most of their genital skin was removed for nothing. They are not anxious to find out that circumcision is a hoax. Doctors push it, because it consumes medical resources, and brings them profit. It makes them feel like they are doing something. Then, they point the finger at the parents, and say, "Well, they wanted it", without ever educating the people on the benefits of having a foreskin. It's big business. Even bigger, when you consider the doctor can legally sell each foreskin for $300+ to a cosmetics or biogen company, without ever telling the parents. Circumcision has a real dark side. This is the device the World Health Organization recommended. It is no longer manufactured. They went out of business, from lawsuits. http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/atlanta-lawyer-wins-11-573890.html
Do a web search on circumcision+wrongful death. You'll find a lot of heartache.
"The British Medical Association has a longstanding recommendation that circumcision should be performed only for medical reasons... Recent policy statements issued by professional societies representing Australian, Canadian, and American pediatricians do not recommend routine circumcision of male newborns". ~AMA Report 10 of the Council on Scientific Affairs
"...benefits are not sufficient for the American Academy of Pediatrics to recommend that all infant boys be circumcised." ~American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
"...the association between having a sexually transmitted disease (STD) - excluding human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and being circumcised are inconclusive... most of the studies [of the effect of circumcision on HIV] ...have been conducted in developing countries, particularly those in Africa. Because of the challenges with maintaining good hygiene and access to condoms, these results are probably not generalizable to the U.S. population". ~AAFP "Position Paper on Neonatal Circumcision"
The "debate" shouldn't be mischaracterized. Perhaps there is a "debate" among those who wish for the practice to continue, and those that don't, but please, let's not pretend like "the jury is still out" as to the "medical benefits" of circumcision. The trend of opinion on routine male circumcision is overwhelmingly negative in industrialized nations. No respected medical board in the world recommends circumcision for infants, not even in the name of HIV prevention. They must all point to the risks, and they must all state that there is no convincing evidence that the benefits outweigh these risks. To do otherwise would be to take an unfounded position against the best medical authorities of the West. The AAP has always followed the weasel trend of never actually endorsing circumcision (because they can't), but always washing their hands of responsibility by "leaving it up to the parents." Cowards.
Genital cutting as a medical procedure rather than as a ritual sacrifice got its start as a Victorian fad treatment for masturbation. They blamed masturbation for many of the serious illnesses they could not understand or treat. A lot of Americans of my generation don't know this, but the foreskin is the most sensitive erogenous zone on the male body, and cutting it off was seen as a convenient "cure" for this problem of pleasure. Other treatments involved chastity belts and burning the head of the ***** with hot pokers. I'll quote one of the fathers of medical genital cutting, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (yes, the breakfast cereal magnate):
"A remedy for masturbation which is almost always successful in small boys is circumcision, especially when there is any degree of phimosis. The operation should be performed by a surgeon without administering anesthetic, as the pain attending the operation will have a salutary effect upon the mind, especially if it be connected with the idea of punishment, as it may well be in some cases. The soreness which continues for several weeks interrupts the practice, and if it had not previously become too firmly fixed, it may be forgotten and not resumed."
Incidentally, the VERY FIRST sentence in the American Academy of Pediatrics' report on circumcision ends "these data are NOT sufficient to recommend routine neonatal circumcision."
What a strange thing for you to omit.
You have to love how CBS skews this topic EVERY SINGLE TIME. Does your parent organization own pediatric hospitals by any chance?
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That means that one of the most nonsensical reasons for circumcision, that parents want him to "fit in" with the others, no longer exists. Half of the others will not be mutilated.
We are reaching the tipping point.
~The Royal Dutch Medical Association
"[We] do not support recommending circumcision as a routine procedure for newborns." ~The Canadian Paediatric Society
"The BMA considers that the evidence concerning health benefits from non-therapeutic circumcision is insufficient for this alone to be a justification for doing it." ~The British Medical Association
"...the level of protection offered by circumcision and complication rate of circumcision do not warrant a recommendation of universal circumcision for newborn and infant males in an Australian and New Zealand context." ~The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP)
Here's a study done on Americans, for a change:
http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/MeetingAbstracts/ma?f=102282676.html
Here's one which shows no benefit with HPV, also American:
http://journals.lww.com/stdjournal/Abstract/publishahead/Circumcision_and_Acquisition_of_Human.98923.aspx
and a companion piece:
http://intactnews.org/node/119/1314979135/circumcision-does-not-prevent-hpv-infection-rct-data-039inflated039-study-finds
Nobody wants to find out that much or most of their genital skin was removed for nothing. They are not anxious to find out that circumcision is a hoax. Doctors push it, because it consumes medical resources, and brings them profit. It makes them feel like they are doing something. Then, they point the finger at the parents, and say, "Well, they wanted it", without ever educating the people on the benefits of having a foreskin. It's big business. Even bigger, when you consider the doctor can legally sell each foreskin for $300+ to a cosmetics or biogen company, without ever telling the parents. Circumcision has a real dark side.
This is the device the World Health Organization recommended.
It is no longer manufactured. They went out of business, from lawsuits.
http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/atlanta-lawyer-wins-11-573890.html
Do a web search on circumcision+wrongful death. You'll find a lot of heartache.
"...benefits are not sufficient for the American Academy of Pediatrics to recommend that all infant boys be circumcised." ~American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
"...the association between having a sexually transmitted disease (STD) - excluding human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and being circumcised are inconclusive... most of the studies [of the effect of circumcision on HIV] ...have been conducted in developing countries, particularly those in Africa. Because of the challenges with maintaining good hygiene and access to condoms, these results are probably not generalizable to the U.S. population". ~AAFP "Position Paper on Neonatal Circumcision"
"A remedy for masturbation which is almost always successful in small boys is circumcision, especially when there is any degree of phimosis. The operation should be performed by a surgeon without administering anesthetic, as the pain attending the operation will have a salutary effect upon the mind, especially if it be connected with the idea of punishment, as it may well be in some cases. The soreness which continues for several weeks interrupts the practice, and if it had not previously become too firmly fixed, it may be forgotten and not resumed."
http://www.jewsagainstcircumcision.org/brisshalom.htm
What a strange thing for you to omit.
You have to love how CBS skews this topic EVERY SINGLE TIME. Does your parent organization own pediatric hospitals by any chance?