Sadly, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released their revised circumcision policy statement. The AAP seems to be more concerned with profits than the medical care of patients as they recommend that third parties pay for male infant circumcision. I would think that a medical organization would be more concerned with true medical benefits and risk awareness than how they should be paid for providing medical care.

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, August 26, 2012

Conscious Life News: Study: Circumcision Removes Most Sensitive Parts Of Male Anatomy, Offers Few Preventative Health Benefits
Few studies have been done to measure the male organ sensitivity. The seminal study is the Sorrells "Fine-touch pressure thresholds in the adult penis" study that found the most sensitive parts of the penis are on the foreskin, which is removed during circumcision.

Digital Journal: New Circumcision Policy "Warmed-Over Myths" - Doctors Opposing Circumcision
A press release from Doctors Opposing Circumcision criticizes the AAP circumcision policy statement for being based on debunked circumcision myths. The AAP circumcision policy seems to be a feeble attempt to bolster profits by increasing the number of unnecessary male infant circumcisions.

The WHOLE Network: AAP 2012 Circumcision Statement: The WHOLE Network Responds
The claims and basis of the AAP circumcision policy statement are ably refuted by The WHOLE Network. Their post includes references to support their reasons why the misguided AAP circumcision policy should be reversed.

ERIC - End Routine Infant Circumcision: Stimulating the Economy at the Expense of Your Son’s Foreskin
The recent push by doctors for more male infant circumcision seems to be driven by profits. The recent AAP circumcision policy admits that there are no overwhelming medical reasons to circumcise. But the policy statement suggests that insurance companies should pay for the unnecessary elective circumcision surgery. Hmm. I guess the economy is hurting doctors, too.
 

Monday, August 27, 2012

The Guardian: Male circumcision: the unkindest cut of all
A father writes of his decision to leave his son whole and intact. He will not have his son circumcised. He points out that the recent AAP circumcision policy statement uses one-sided information to push a pro-circumcision policy.

CNN Health: Why I didn't circumcise my sons
A circumcised man tells why he left his sons whole and intact. He and his wife did not circumcise their sons. He trusted that the natural penis is perfectly fine without being modified by circumcision. He did not think hygiene is an issue in modern life. He also sees no problem if his sons ever ask why his penis looks different from theirs.

Should I circumcise?: Top Five refutations for AAP "evidence" for benefits of circumcision
Five reasons why the AAP circumcision policy statement is flawed. The author points out that there is little medical evidence to support male infant circumcision. But the ethical issue is great that the elective surgery should not be performed on infants.

Choose Intact: The AAP Worsens Its Flawed Circumcision Position
A list of posts that provide critical analysis of the recently announced circumcision policy statement by the AAP. The policy statement ends with the comment that it is the parents decision and that the medical benefits alone may not outweigh other considerations. Hmm. Maybe elective cosmetic, body modification surgery should be left up to the individual whose body is being modified, not his parents.

Dr Momma - peaceful parenting: The AAP 2012 Circumcision Policy Statement and What I Have Learned from a Decade of Intactivism
Circumcision will stop when people of child bearing age are educated on the true function of the foreskin and the harms that can result from male infant circumcision. The best time to educate someone is before they have the opportunity to circumcise a baby boy. I see this working out already. Many teenage boys and young men are upset with their parents for letting them be circumcised. Them boys and men will not let their sons be circumcised. The cycle stops.

MarketWire: AAP Circumcision Policy 'Seriously Flawed', Condemned by Canadian Children's Rights Group
The Children's Health & Human Rights Partnership (CHHRP) of Canada condemns the AAP circumcision policy statement. The CHHRP believes the best policy is one of deterrence of circumcising healthy, normal boys. The group says the AAP fails to recognize the unique sensory functions of the male foreskin, which enhances sexual pleasure for the male and his partner.

larry's musings: US pediatricians continue to lie about circumcision
Another blog critical of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) revised circumcision policy statement. He rightly states that parents have no right to deprive their children of their rights, which includes the right to their whole, healthy body. He says that male infant circumcision deprives the woman and the man of the full joys of natural sexual love that God intended for them (because it abnormalizes coitus for both the wife and the husband). It deprives the boy child of his right to bodily integrity. Women have a right to natural (uncut, intact) husbands.

WTVR: Doctor sees more issues (complications) with circumcisions
A news report about a doctor who is seeing more issues with baby boys who get circumcised at the hospital. The rate of circumcision complications is increasing, putting baby boys at risk for the unnecessary elective surgery of male genital cutting (circumcision).
 

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

The Guardian: Circumcision: the cruellest cut?
An article from the UK in response to the recently released revised male circumcision policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP). American doctors stand alone in their advocacy of male infant circumcision on medical grounds. Europe has a very low rate of male circumcision. Recently, a German court decision stated that child circumcision is an assault and violates the child's rights. I was interviewed and quoted for the article.

Bioethics Forum: The Flip-flop over Foreskin
A professor of women's and gender studies at the University of Oregon writes of the ethics (or lack of ethics) of the recently revised circumcision policy statement of the AAP. She says, "if we took a moment to put aside what we think we know, and to look carefully at the conflicting medical debates circumcision has inspired over the years, we might be persuaded to at least question the necessity and wisdom of the procedure, given its risks, its permanence, and the fact that its recipient might have chosen otherwise." She reminds us that medical opinions regarding circumcision have changed over the years. Considering the permanent change to the penis caused by circumcision, if parents rely upon the current AAP policy, will the parents' decision be reversible? Foreskin restoration is a less than perfect substitute for the original foreskin. I would have preferred to have my original equipment.

The Mind-Body SHIFT: Pediatricians Back Circumcision, But Not Without Controversy
Why is it that only the US circumcises baby boys for non-religious reasons? "Roughly 55 percent of the 2 million boys born each year in the United States are circumcised, a decline from a high of 79 percent in the 1970s and 1980s, says epidemiologist and pathologist Aaron Tobian, professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine." Circumcision rates in Europe average 10 percent, and, in Denmark, the male infant circumcision rate is only 1.6 percent.

kopfkrabbe: There are no Christian / Muslim / Jewish children … only children of Christian / Muslim / Jewish parents.
There is no justification for male infant genital cutting, otherwise known as male infant circumcision. There is no religious right to body mutilation.
 

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Joseph4GI: LEAKED: AAP Press Script
The recent announcement of the American Academy of Pediatricians circumcision policy statement was well scripted. Joseph dissects information on the AAP press releases and the scripted information provided to the media to ensure that the new policy was favorably reviewed, even in view of contradictory information and studies. Big business at work. At the expense of our health and bodies. But, then, doctors have to make money, too.

Barrel of Oranges: Parental Rights and Child Maltreatment
The AAP circumcision policy statement advocates parental rights as justification for genital cutting of baby boys. The policy statement ignores the ethics of conducting unnecessary elective surgery like infant circumcision. The policy statement ignores the rights of the children to an intact and whole body. Instead, the AAP says it is up to the parents. Well, as a circumcised man, my parents had no right to decide to have a healthy part of my body cut off.
 

Thursday, August 30, 2012

The Inquisitr: Intactivists Respond To The 2012 AAP Circumcision Policy Statement [Op Ed]
An interview with members of The WHOLE Network and End Routine Infant Circumcision (ERIC) who provide information that was omitted from or mistated in the AAP policy statement.
 

Friday, August 31, 2012

Intact America Blog: My Letter to the American Academy of Pediatrics
Georganne Chapin, Executive Director of Intact America, reprints a letter to the AAP regarding their recent circumcision policy statement. She points out several flaws in the AAP policy. The AAP circumcision policy is flawed because it fails to address that most men in world are intact and have no medical problems and because the policy fails to address any studies conducted in the US that supports its position on male circumcision.

Joseph4GI: WASHINGTON POST: The "Great Controversy" Strikes Again
Another great post by Joseph. He points out that a common media tactic when it comes to circumcision articles is to praise the medical industry and criticize those against as just angry laymen. It does not take much effort to realize that there is medical literature that supports the genital integrity position and refutes many of the points made by the circumcision advocates.

MinnPost: How medical opinions on circumcision have shifted over the years
The AAP has flip-flopped on their male circumcision policy many times over the years. The author points out that the AAP does not address the complication rate and risks of male infant circumcision.

The Weeklings: Our Bodies, Our Choices – Part I
"My body, my choice." That is an often repeated statement by intactivists, particularly men who were circumcised and are not happy about it. This article extensively covers male infant circumcision and the many things that can go wrong from the unnecessary, elective surgery of baby boys.
 

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Laurie A. Couture: Male Genital Mutilation: American Academy of Pediatrics Says OK!
A critique of the revised circumcision policy statement released by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The author presents information proving that the AAP needs to take stance against male infant circumcision. The foreskin is an amazing organ that brings great pleasure to men. Unfortunately, many men never realize what what they are missing because their foreskin was removed shortly after their birth.

BioEdge - Bioethics News From Around the World: US doctors’ stand on circumcision changes again
A short article about how the American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP) has once again, like several times before, changed its stance on male infant circumcision. The article refers to the Bioethics forum article The Flip-flop over Foreskin. The article astutely notes that neither side of the circumcision debate has an open-and-shut case, which really supports the position that elective surgery should not be performed without a solid reason.

The Vancouver Sun: AAP's endorsement of male circumcision undercut
A quick post likening the recent AAP circumcision policy statement to The Fox Without a Tail fable. A bunch of men who are circumcised are advising others to continue circumcising.

CBS Detroit: Protest Planned To Stop The Circumcision Of Boys
Michigan's branch of National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Center (NOCIRC of Michigan) is planning a demonstration against the recent AAP circumcision policy statement.

Ethics Training: Circumcision violates an important principle of the practice of Medicine: do no harm
The author notes that there are many doctors and nurses who refuse to perform infant circumcisions because they consider the unnecessary, elective surgery of infant circumcision to be unethical.

Conscious Life News: Naomi Wolf: The Question Of Male Circumcision
"Parents considering male circumcision have a right to expect objective medical advice, untainted by commercial interests." So starts an article that questions the reasons behind the recently revised AAP circumcision policy statement. The author points out that many men are questioning the need for male infant circumcision.