The big news this week is a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report about the increased herpes infection rate due to the Orthodox Jewish circumcision rite of metzitzah b'peh. The rite has the mohel using oral suction after the foreskin is removed. Unfortunately, if the mohel has herpes, there is a high probability that the boy will get it, too. There are many solutions to prevent herpes infection of baby boys. The Orthodox Jewish community does not like the idea of stopping circumcisions, which would be the best answer. There should be testing of mohels with infected mohels prohibited from circumcising. This should be the immediate response and widely supported. We shall see if it happens.

For more information, read:

• CDC: Babies infected with herpes following circumcision ritual
• New York City Statement on Jewish Ritual Circumcision with Direct Oral Suctioning - Metzitzah B’peh
• Circumcision’s Deadly Fault Line: Rationality vs. the Metzitzah B’Peh
• HealthDay: 11 New York infants infected with herpes through ritual in Jewish circumcision
• The Week: Should extreme Orthodox Jewish circumcision be illegal?

Parents, protect your babies. Support intactivism. The following list includes blogs, articles, and websites of interest to Intactivists that were published in the past week. This is a running tally of the ones I found interesting.
 

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Intact America:  INTACTIVIST OF THE MONTH: Dr. Dean Edell
Dr. Dean Edell is an outspoken activist against male infant circumcision. He has taken a public stand to educate parents about he harms of male infant circumcision. Intact America honors Doctor Edell as the Intactivist of the Month for June 2012.

Tales of a Midwestern Housewife: The Circumcision Decision
What circumcision decision? Why do people think there is a circumcision decision that needs to be made? Deciding if a part of a baby's penis should be cut off is not a decision that parents should be making. Parents do not decide about female circumcision of their daughters. Why their sons? His body. His choice.

Hilary Burrage: The Other FGM Debate: Is Male Circumcision Also Child Abuse?
Currently in the United Kingdom the issue of female genital cutting or mutilation (FGM) of girls is a hot topic. Female circumcision is unquestionably child abuse. But what about boys? Why is genital cutting of boys not considered child abuse?

Circumcision and HIV: SANTA CRUZ PRIDE: First Amendment Free Zone?
The ACLU in California supported male infant circumcision and helped to shoot down the San Francisco ballot measure to ban infant circumcision. Their action made them a target of a protest against infant circumcision. But the ACLU did not like the adverse publicity and sought to stop it.
 

Monday, June 4, 2012

Choose Intact: Flawed Circumcision Defense: Dr. Ruth Westheimer
Doctor Ruth was outspoken about sexual issues and she offered lots of advice. Most of it was good. Unfortunately, here infant circumcision advice is typical of doctor - cut the boy. We cannot guess if she was advocating for circumcision because of her religion or because, as a doctor, they make money by cutting.

The Case Against Infant Circumcision: Female Circumcision & Health Benefits
Many falsely believe that "Male circumcision has health benefits, but Female Circumcision has no health benefits." In the Western world, researchers spend much time looking for benefits to male circumcision, and frequently come up short. But no one in the West investigates female circumcision or female genital cutting. There is one African study that shows women with the most severe form of FGM, infibulation, still experience orgasms. For some reason, the West is against female circumcision for being a violation of human rights. But those in the West ignore the human rights violation of cutting the genitalia of baby boys.
 

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Feckblog: Circumcision....another collection of links
Many have written about the harm of male circumcision. The author pics a few links and provides quotes discussing the harm of male circumcision. On link is to The Case Against Circumcision by Paul M. Fleiss, MD. The quote from Doctor Fleiss tells of the numerous protective, sensory, and sexual functions of the foreskin, which are removed by circumcision.

Ending Unnecessary Male Circumcision In The UK: Half a million UK boys at risk of forced circumcision
A post about the number of boys in the United Kingdom at risk of being circumcised before they are 16 years old. These boys will be circumcised for religious and cultural reasons.
 

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

The Case Against Infant Circumcision: Rebuttal of Dr. Carolyn Roy-Bornstein on Infant Circumcision
MindofOwn gives a rebuttal to a doctor who advocates circumcision. The doctor give the usual reasons to justify her position for circumcision, for example, UTIs. But urinary tract infections are rare among boys and usually easily treated with antibiotics. Invasive surgery like circumcision is unnecessary as a preventative measure. When it comes to HIV, infant circumcision is not necessary because babies do not have sex. Let the boy grow up and then address sexually transmitted diseases.

Ending Unnecessary Male Circumcision In The UK: Will British Medical Association debate male circumcision?
The British Medical Association (BMA) may be debating the issue of Unnecessary Male Circumcision at its Annual Representatives Meeting in Bournemouth later this month (June 24-28). A doctor submitted the motion to debate non-therapeutic male circumcision. The motion is not guaranteed a place on the agenda.

Choose Intact: A Function of the Foreskin
One function of the foreskin is to protect the internal part of the penis. Just because clothing is commonly worn does not mean that the foreskin is not needed. For example, I always had a slight irritation in my shorts from the corona rubbing against the fabric. Even though I learned to ignore it, I still felt it. After restoring my foreskin that irritation disappeared. My restored foreskin protects me and I feel comfortable in my shorts.

The Case Against Infant Circumcision: Refuting Pro-Circumcision Propaganda of Health Benefits for Infants
Male infant circumcision does not have health benefits that outweigh the risks and complications inherent in the elective infant surgery. Regardless, surgically removing healthy body parts when the patient cannot himself consent is a violation of human rights.

Choose Intact: Circumcision Lawsuits as Strategy - Follow-Up
A note about the prison inmate who brought a lawsuit for his circumcision. The court dismissed the case because the inmate did not show that the court had jurisdiction to try the case.
 

Thursday, June 7, 2012

The Case Against Infant Circumcision:  Women Defending Female Circumcision: Statement by African Women Are Free to Choose (AWA-FC), Washington DC, USA
The group, African Women Are Free to Choose (AWA-FC), advocates for the right for female circumcision to continue in Africa. The group points to American male infant circumcision as justification for the practice of female genital cutting. If it OK for Americans to cut the sex organs of their baby boys, it must be equally OK for Africans to cut the sex organs of their girls.

The Case Against Infant Circumcision: Circumcision in Africa - A License to Infect
One study was cut short after it was found that circumcised men were infecting women with HIV at a rate about 54% higher than intact men. The male circumcision campaign in Africa will result in more women becoming HIV positive.

Kevin Knauss: Sex and circumcision, from a woman’s perspective
A woman tells of her experience with intact men compared to circumcised men. She prefers men who have a foreskin, that is, who are intact. She explains how the foreskin works to preserve a woman's natural lubrication. She also explains that the foreskin allows her to have sex without being sore afterwards like she is when she has sex with a circumcised man.
 

Friday, June 8, 2012

Saving Our Sons: Cleveland Clinic's Pediatric Surgeon Says NO To Circumcision
Dr Momma's peaceful parenting: Cleveland Clinic's Pediatric Surgeon Says NO To Circumcision
A mother tells of how, when she was looking for a doctor to do her son's circumcision, a pediatric surgeon explained infant circumcision to her. He told her how the circumcision is performed, how the foreskin is forcibly separated from the glans. The doctor told her that he would not circumcise if it was his son. She left her son whole and intact.

Awesatious: The downside of having a baby boy?
A mother laments that other mothers-to-be complain that circumcision is a downside to having a baby boy. Really? If those mothers think circumcision is that bad, why do they still have it done to their baby boys? If their maternal instinct is strong enough to recognize that infant circumcision is harmful, why do it?

HIV in Kenya: Circumcision: A Few Billion to Spare for Africa
The male circumcision campaign in Africa is expensive and requires medical resources that Uganda, for example, does not currently have. Uganda, like many countries in Africa, has a shortage of medical facilities and doctors. The facilities and doctors to circumcise millions of men are not there. The author questions whether the money being spent on the male circumcision campaign wouldn't be better spent for improving health care for other diseases that have higher morbidity and mortality.

theintelhub: News Brief: Circumcision is Trauma Based Mind Control
A podcast from YouTube about the effects of male circumcision on men. Marilyn Milos is interviewed. She talks about male infant circumcision and why it is bad for babies and the men they grow up to be. Cutting off part of the most sensitive body part of men is traumatic. Unfortunately, one effect of the trauma results in men being in denial that they are missing an important part of their body.
 

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Should I circumcise?: What if mom & dad knew better but didn't do better?
A father wonders about those who should know better, but do not do better. Maya Angelou is often quoted as saying, "When you know better, you do better." But what about those who don't do better? Just because people are given information, perhaps they do not really understand and appreciate that information. Maybe some people are not reachable, no matter how much information on the harm of infant circumcision is given to them.

Salem-News: The Book of Deuteronomy Excludes Circumcision
An examination of the Old Testament and, in particular, the Book of Deuteronomy. The conclusion is that the Book of Deuteronomy forbids circumcision.