Today, IntactAmerica printed an open letter to the American Academy of Pediatrics. I highly recommend that you read it here. The AAP is apparently considering revising its stance on circumcision from one of neutrality to actually recommending this barbaric procedure for every single baby boy in America. This reconsideration of their position is based on some very weak and questionable studies that have come out of Africa. Why do doctors persistently ignore the piles of scientific evidence against circumcision, dismiss our newly expanded understanding of the exquisitely perfect function of the foreskin, and frantically grab hold of the few studies that show weak “benefits?” I have a theory. In order to take a firm stand against circumcision, a man has to come to terms with and acknowledge that a valuable, sensitive, and beautiful part of his body was cruelly sliced off and thrown away (or sold, but that’s another topic.) What man wants to admit that? Even if only to himself? No, too many men, including doctors, would rather ignorantly insist that there is nothing wrong with circumcision, tell themselves that they are not missing out on anything, pretend that their sexual function and sensation has not been crippled, and continue the cycle of violence on another entire generation of helpless, nonconsenting baby boys. Oh, and it makes them boatloads of money every year.
I used the IntactAmerica website to send a letter to the AAP asking them to stand up for the human rights of baby boys. Their form letter was so perfect that I used it exactly as it is and I’ve pasted it below. Please, send them a letter by clicking here. It is so easy. Maybe we can make a difference.
Dear AAP,
American parents trust their pediatricians and rely on them for the best advice in caring for their children. As a matter of ethics, that advice cannot include neonatal male circumcision – a medically unnecessary, potentially risky surgery that no major medical authority in the world recommends.
That is why I am asking the committee charged with reviewing the American Academy of Pediatrics’ current neutral position on infant circumcision NOT to revise that position in favor of the surgery. Further, I ask you to take an ethical stand against the removal of a healthy, functioning body part – the prepuce, or foreskin – from non-consenting newborn babies.
The United States is the only western nation today where doctors routinely circumcise infant boys in medical settings. Although the rate has fallen from above 90 percent 30 years ago to below 60 percent today, more than one million American babies still undergo the surgery every year to the tune of one billion dollars in health-care spending.
Now, based on studies conducted among adults in sub-Saharan Africa that found reduced transmission of HIV from women to men (though not from men to women, nor men to men), some are suggesting that the AAP should recommend circumcision for all newborn males in the United States.
Doctors have a responsibility to tell parents the truth: circumcision does not prevent disease. Most European nations, with circumcision rates near zero, have lower HIV/AIDS rates than the United States. Circumcision rates in America do not correlate with HIV rates in any ethnic population or geographical region.
Furthermore, circumcision has significant risks, including infection, bleeding, impairment of sexual function, and even death. Earlier this year, an Atlanta family was awarded $2.3 million because a physician accidentally amputated much of a baby’s penis during a “routine” hospital circumcision. A Canadian baby bled to death in 2004, after being circumcised in a British Columbia hospital. In 2008, a baby from South Dakota bled to death, and his parents have filed suit against the hospital where he was circumcised, as well as the doctor who performed the surgery.
Infrequent though complications may be, because the surgery is performed on healthy babies who have no need for it, each injury and each death is utterly indefensible. And even an “uncomplicated” infant circumcision permanently removes healthy functional tissue from a person who did not consent to it.
Growing numbers of medical professionals and expectant parents are saying “No” to infant circumcision. I urge the AAP’s committee charged with reviewing circumcision policy, as well as all pediatricians, to make the same decision on behalf of the babies who are their patients.
Thank you for your time and attention to this serious matter.
laura, unfortunately, the american cancer society is also moving to push circumcision. their web pages have changed to emphasize circumcision. we need to speak up to the ACS too.