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.
  Read more . . .

A website that is worth looking at is Circumcision Insanity. The Circumcision Insanity website posts examples of the crazy things people say about circumcision. The site has examples of posts made by parents who make fun of their baby boy's painful circumcision.

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, May 20, 2012

Stop the Cut: Colorado Bill to restore Circumcision Funding Failed
A report of the recent effort in Colorado to have the government pay for elective surgery, namely male infant circumcision. Fortunately, the measure failed and there will be no Medicaid funding of male infant circumcision.

Mile High Advocate: About to give birth? Thinking of circumcision? You owe it to your child to read this article!
A great resource of information and links about intactivism and male infant circumcision. The author provides her personal story, followed by the facts that speak against circumcision. She wraps up her post with links, lots of links. Websites that provide information. Facebook pages and a state-by-state list of intactivist groups are listed.
 

Monday, May 21, 2012

no circumcision: Circumcised or Uncircumcised: Does It Matter in Sex?
Recently, Huff Post Women published a post Circumcised or Uncircumcised: Does It Matter in Sex? where a woman wrote about her first encounter with an intact man. Until then, she had only been used to circumcised men. She liked sex with a foreskin so much, she did more research. She recommends that women should have sex with an intact man at least once so that they can see what they have been missing. The author even linked to another post with tips on giving an uncircumcised man oral sex. This is one more example of how women love foreskin.

Choose Intact: More on the Fallacy of Voluntary Male Medical Circumcision (VMMC): Infant Volunteers
The male circumcision campaign in Africa is supposes to be voluntary male medical circumcision. That is, African men are supposed to voluntarily consent to circumcision. Unfortunately, babies and boys are being circumcised. So much for the voluntary part of the circumcision campaign.
 

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Practical Ethics: When bad science kills, or how to spread AIDS
A well researched article about the male circumcision campaign being waged in Africa. The three clinical trials relied upon to support the circumcision campaign are deeply flawed. Further, the distorted results of those clinical trials have been heavily promoted to influence public health recommendations. The conclusion is that HIV infections will likely increase because the circumcision surgeries are conducted in less than sanitary conditions and because Africans falsely believe that circumcision will protect them.
  Read more . . .

Several weeks ago, the news was the battle over having Medicaid fund male infant circumcision in Colorado. Currently, the news is the battle over Medicare funding of male infant circumcision in Australia.

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, May 6, 2012

Greg Fitzsimmons: Some Tips on Circumcision
Stand up comic and entertainment personality Greg Fitzsimmons speaks out against male infant circumcision. He tells the world that his son is not circumcised. He explains why. Tradition is a poor excuse to cut the sex organs of a baby boy.

Intactivist Blog: Another telling shot
A NSFW photo comparison of the glans from an intact penis and a circumcised penis. The intact glans is smooth and glossy. The circumcised penis, although pink, is rough and course. The intact glans has the appearance of mucous membrane, which is what it is.
 

Monday, May 7, 2012

Authentic Parenting: The Truth about Circumcision
A list of facts about male infant circumcision. With these facts, one wonders why anyone would think circumcising an infant boy would be a good thing to do. Circumcision is painful, both psychologically and physically. Circumcision does not, as many think, promote penile hygiene. Circumcision may reduce sexual pleasure later in life.

Men Do Complain: No Deaths
No one wants to admit that babies die from circumcision. When a baby dies after being circumcised, the cause of death is rarely, if ever, attributed to being circumcised, even though, the baby would not have died but for being circumcised. Often the cause of death is identified as loss of blood, septicemia, or even sudden death syndrome. At best, the cause of death may include the phrase "following circumcision."

Intact America: INTACTIVIST OF THE MONTH: Marilyn Milos, RN
For Mother's Day 2012, Intact America celebrates the "founding mother" of the intactivist movement—Marilyn Milos, RN. Marilyn founded the National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers (NOCIRC),

RoboJustice SuperFighter: I Have A Penis And It’s Missing A Little Bit
A young man laments his missing foreskin, removed when he was a baby. He provides strong arguments for leaving babies whole, without circumcision.
  Read more . . .

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.
 

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Beyond the Bris: Questioning Jewish Circumcision: Choosing Brit Shalom Over Brit Milah
A Jewish mother tells of holding a Brit Shalom for her son. She and her husband decided against circumcising their son. Her son grew up happy to have his whole penis. He is actively involved with Judaism and has not been held back because he was not circumcised.

Solutions: Lawmakers reconsider circumcision for babies on Medicaid
An amendment adding circumcision payments to Medicaid was voted down in the Colorado Senate last week. This week a senate subcommittee voted to move the bill forward. Huh? It seems like some in Colorado really want to cut the sex organs of baby boys.

Salem-News: CIRCUMCISION: Culture-Bound and Culture-Specific Syndromes with Shared Psychotic Disorder
An article discussing the cultural aspects of circumcision.

sitfu.com: Circumcision – Male Genital Mutilation
sitfu questions why male genital mutilation is so accepted as a societal custom. "’s like, after the baby boy is born, as if that’s not traumatic enough, he is then forced to suffer the excruciating pain and shock of having a very important piece of his body cut off … from the most sensitive part of his body, no less!"

Planetary Vision: Infant male circumcision is genital mutilation
A plea to parents to leave their sons whole and uncut. Do not circumcise your baby boy.
  Read more . . .