Routine Infant Circumcision

I posted this as a bulletin on my Myspace a few days ago. I wanted to make it a bit more permanent and hopefully inform more people of what they may not (or, if my own previous knowledge is any clue, don't) know in regard to routine infant circumcision - also known as male genital mutilation (a scarier term, but a bit more applicable).

I am against circumcision.

Well, let me restate that - I am against circumcizing humans without their consent.
A baby cannot give consent to the doctor to remove part of his body.

At first I could only read a transcript of a circumcision video. That made me sick. Then, I watched these videos. Actually seeing a circumcision and hearing the baby's screams (and it's not just a normal cry - it's a scream of pain), I'm set in my decision to NEVER EVER circumcize any boys I may have.

You might not know that baby boys are circumcized without anesthesia in 75% of obstetrician-attended circumcisions.

The overall anesthesia rate for circumcisions in America is 45%.

You also may not know, if you have never seen an intact penis, that the foreskin is not just a "little bit" of "extra" skin. In a baby boy, the foreskin covers over half of the penis. It is adhered to the head of the penis with the same tissue that connects fingernails to the tips of the fingers.

So it would, to put it bluntly, hurt like hell when it is removed.

Watch these videos. Inform yourself. When you are informed, you can inform others and hopefully one day this barbaric pratice will be outlawed in America the same way that female circumcision is.

These videos bullshit all the claims as to why a circumcision is a "good idea" as your pediatrician or obstetrician may tell you.

Plus, it's Penn & Teller. So you'll be entertained too.

Protect your babies. Don't circumcize.

(If anyone who reads this has circumcized baby boys, I won't judge you. It's quite possible that you had no idea. But, if you have this data and then continue the trend, I can't guarantee that I won't).