Circumcision: A Closer Look
Posting Date: 03/01/1999
I have had a long and vociferous opposition to the practice of routine male circumcision.
While many parents in the 60's, in their zeal to return to nature, abandonned the practice, it was 15 years ago that the birth of my fourth son prompted my rethinking of the issue. I had met a nurse, who is now the president of the National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers, who enlightened me to the existing medical data.
The United States was the only country in the world that routinely circumcised all its newborn males. It was a uniquely American ritual.
The medical evidence never convinced all the other civilized countries in the world. This did not seem to alter the opinions of medical organizations in the United States. They stubbornly clung to the old myths about circumcision.
Well, after analysis of almost 40 years of available medical research on circumcision, the American Academy of Pediatrics has issued new recommendations saying that they do not recommend circumcision as a routine procedure. This is too little and too late for the millions of infants who have undergone this unnecessary and inhumane assault.
This is a radical departure for American medicine and, of course, raises many,many issues. With that statement the American Academy of Pediatricians joins major national pediatrics group in England, Australia, Canada, Asia and Europe.
COMMON MYTHS
Let's first talk about the many myths that one hears.
CLEANLINESS
The most common myth is that it's cleaner to be circumcised. It's hard to imagine how this has persisted in an era of soap and water. But certainly it's understandable that people do get upset with moist places in the body.
A woman's reproductive tract is certainly moist and contains lots of bacteria, yet no one would suggest circumcising females to make them cleaner
CERVICAL CANCER
The idea that women who have sex with uncircumcised men will get cervical cancer is a myth that is hard to put to rest.
This is so untrue that the Academy did not even consider this in their new evaluation. Cervical cancer is caused by a sexually transmitted virus and has nothing to do with the circumcision status of the male.
URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS
Some studies have found urinary tract infections to be more common in the intact male baby. Other studies have challenged that.
If one accepts the claims of those who think not circumcising increases the risk, then you would have to do 200 circumcisions to prevent one urinary tract infection.
COMPLICATIONS
The complication rate of the circumcision operation itself - from bleeding to amputation of the penis - is at least one in 200 according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. So you can see that there's no benefit at all.
PENILE CANCER
When it comes to penile cancer, the Academy notes that it is so rare that it should not be a significant influence on the decision to circumcise.
STDs
Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) have been claimed to be more common in the intact male. But is this true?
There is no doubt, as the AAP says, that behavioral factors are far more important in determining your risk of STDs and that there are some sexually transmitted diseases that are more common in circumcised men.
FATHER TO SON
The most common reason men give for circumcising their sons is so they will look like them. This is a poor reason to do this to a newborn baby.
DIFFERENCES: SEXUAL SATISFACTION OF WOMEN
Recent studies have found that sexually, circumcised men are different from intact men. The glans or tip of the intact penis is more sensitive. Circumcision removes the equivalent of 15 square inches of skin in the adult male. One study recently published in the British Journal of Urology found that intact men are more satisfying to their female lovers than circumcised men.
HISTORY
Circumcision was initially introduced into this country by reformers who wanted to prevent masturbation, but according to recent studies, if this was the objective, the reformers have failed.
PREVENT MASTURBATION?
Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that men who are circumcised are more likely to masturbate and to prefer certain sexual practices including oral sex and anal sex
It is possible that the decrease in penile sensation that accompanies circumcision could be playing a role in the seeking of different sexual practices that offer more stimulation.
ETHICS
Ethically, the AAP walks a fine line. While they admit that parents and physicians have an ethical duty to act in a child's best interest and well being, they fall far short of recommending that we have an ethical duty to leave a child's genitals intact.
It seems clear to everybody that female circumcision is a gross and obvious violation of that right, but somehow male circumcision is not seen as extreme an intrusion. The AAP does say that, "parents should not be coerced by medical professionals to make this choice."
PAIN
The pediatricians finally admit the obvious: that there is considerable evidence that newborns experience extreme pain and significant stress during a circumcision which, unfortunately, is performed most of the time without any analgesia whatsoever.
Why it's taken so long for pediatricians to admit this obvious fact is a clear condemnation of previous circumcision policy. When I was in medical school, doctors tried to teach me that babies don't feel any pain.
SCOPE OF IMPACT
Although it's hard to get numbers, the best that we have tell us that 65 percent of newborns are circumcised in the United States with higher rates in the east. It's estimated there are 1.2 million newborn males circumcised in the U.S. every year at a cost of between $150 to 270 million
WHY DO WE ALL PAY?
It seems that, with this newest information, HMO's and other health insurers should stop paying for this medically unnecessary procedure and use that money for other, more important aspects of pediatric care
YOU COUNT: TAKE A LOOK AND LEARN MORE
The toughest sell, of course, will be the American public, which is why we are offering you a picture of an infant undergoing circumcision as well as something many American men and women have never seen before - an intact, natural penis.
A CHANGING WORLD
Internationally about 80 to 85 percent of the male population is uncircumcised. The AAP is not the first, but the fourth major medical society in the world to change its circumcision policy. Australia, the U.K., and Canada already have instituted more humane policies. Hopefully, we will go much further toward stopping this barbaric practice which is decidedly unhealthy for us and our children.
from:
http://www.healthcentral.com/drdean/408/9985.html