Demand that the U.S. Surgeon General Classify Newborn Circumcision as Non-Essential

barnagotte · 2021-08-10T17:38:04+00:00

Amen. No one asked my opinion. Disgusting.

Allevil669 · 2021-08-10T19:46:27+00:00

With our three sons, our insurance told us that circumcision was a cosmetic procedure, and we'd have to pay out-of-pocket, over $400. Needless to say, even though we'd both been raised to believe that circumcision was something you "just did", our frugalness could not be overcome.

Later, we discovered that circumcision isn't "just a cosmetic procedure", and were relieved that we didn't do it.

leachlurker · 2021-08-10T20:18:32+00:00

How the fuck is it essential anyway

Diligent-Education64 · 2021-08-10T17:22:40+00:00

Thanks, signed.

Koalachan · 2021-08-10T19:40:49+00:00

Is it not already? I ask because when my son was born we got a lot of pamphlets saying there was no medical reason to do it and it was up to the parents but overall wasn't necessary or recommended.

Itrusttheinternett · 2021-08-10T17:16:27+00:00

The United States Surgeon General, Dr. Jerome Adams, has called upon doctors and hospitals to stop conducting elective, non-essential surgeries during the coronavirus pandemic, to conserve personal protective equipment and other resources needed to care for patients suffering from COVID-19.

Dr. Adams’ directive applied to adult surgeries. But what about non-essential child surgeries, such as “routine” newborn circumcision?

Although it is the most common pediatric surgery performed in the United States, infant male circumcision treats no disease and serves no therapeutic purpose. The American Academy of Pediatrics has stated there is insufficient evidence to recommend circumcision for all boys. If it is not essential to circumcise baby boys in England, Europe, or Australia, how can the United States continue to circumcise baby boys in the current pandemic and beyond?

Every day, more than 3000 American baby boys undergo the amputation of their healthy, normal foreskins, a needless practice that violates their bodily autonomy, puts them at risk of infection, and consumes thousands of surgical masks, protective gloves, sterile drapes and medical supplies that could be better employed to treat sick patients and protect overworked frontline health care workers from COVID-19.

Please sign this petition and join with Intact America to demand that U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams tell doctors and hospitals to CANCEL newborn circumcisions, during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond.

needletothebar · 2021-08-10T17:35:00+00:00

isn't it a little late for this now? they've already resumed performing non-essential surgeries everywhere.

whereisourequality · 2021-08-11T02:45:26+00:00

I still have no idea how this shit is still legal.

WeaknessTechnical654 · 2021-08-11T04:38:45+00:00

It would be better if it was classified as child abuse.

DarthEquus · 2021-08-12T00:33:03+00:00

States where Medicaid covers infant circumcision have 50% higher infant circumcision rates. A Jewish doctor noted infant circumcision and SIDS are strongly and significantly correlated globally (r=0.7, p=0.003), and the rate of male SIDS/unexplained death is 35% higher in states where Medicaid covers infant circumcision (Elhaik, 2019). To extrapolate from those numbers, this suggests infant circumcision causes between 189 and 378 infant deaths per year that are currently recorded as SIDS. This means the risk of death is approximately 1 in 5,000 to 1 in 2,500.

Here is a letter about how Medicaid coverage for circumcision subjects children to harm: Green, et al. Medicaid Coverage Of Circumcision Spreads Harm To The Poor. Am J Public Health. 2009.

The Canadian Pediatric Society reviewed all the literature on infant circumcision and said it has no significant benefits in 2015 and again in 2018. There is a list of 56 medical authorities who have spoken out about the inadvisability of infant circumcision in the sidebar.

Most of the claimed benefits of circumcision are based on studies performed by circumcision activist researchers in Africa. In America, circumcised men have double the risk for high-risk HPV strains (OR=2; P=0.03; n=1,868) (Daugherty, 2017). In Australia, circumcision increased the odds of moderate-to-severe prostate-related urination problems by 50% in men aged 40-69 (n=1216) (McCredie, 2001).

Studies in America and Australia have found men with intact foreskin are less averse to using condoms and/or experience less difficulty using them (Crosby, 2016; Bensley & Boyle, 2001; Richters, 1995). Crosby (2016) found young American black men who have sex with men were twice as likely to use condoms if they had intact foreskin than if they were circumcised (p=.04). And according to another study by the same lead author, "a recent study of heterosexual [American] men found that those who were intact were generally more likely than their circumcised counterparts to use condoms". This negative effect of circumcision on condom usage should be considered very significant from a public health perspective.

Non-therapeutic genital cutting is a tradition based in ignorance. The more that men know about cutting and the foreskin, the less satisfied they are with being circumcised (Earp, 2018). The foreskin is the most sensitive part of the penis and it is functional besides sensitive. It makes sex and masturbation better (Sorrells, 2007—NSFW diagram; Bronselaer, 2013; Taves, 2002; Gallup & Burch, 2004; O'Hara, 1999; Podnar, 2012; Bensley & Boyle, 2001; Weiss & Brody, 2009; Frisch, 2011).

Complications from infant circumcision that require surgical correction are more common than foreskin problems. That's one reason why every other country with medicalized infant circumcision quit covering it in their national health programs (Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada). Even without considering the ethics, it's a waste of money. Kentucky Medicaid statistics showed approximately 5% of infant circumcisions are botched and require expensive surgical correction. A study in Utah found that by age 2, the complication rate of neonatal circumcision is 11.5% (Lau, 2018). The Cleveland Clinic website says 23% of boys are affected by meatal stenosis caused by infant circumcision. The odds of experiencing complications from neonatal circumcision are more than 20-50 times higher than the odds that a man with intact foreskin would ever want to be circumcised, and some of the complications entail life-changing adversities. Some other complications of infant circumcision include: excessive bleeding (very common at around 15%), glans scarring, glansectomy, degloving, urethral fistula, penectomy, iatrogenic phimosis, inclusion cysts, shaft hair, excessive bleeding, keloid scars, uncomfortably tight skin and skin bridges.

Doctors fail parents because their medical education is lacking when it comes to the foreskin. The diagrams in medical articles and textbooks fail to show the nerves and blood vessels of the foreskin. They depict the foreskin as if it were not a part of the penis if they show it at all. This is how most doctors have been kept ignorant about the functional nature of the foreskin. This is finally beginning to change. A popular undergraduate medical anatomy textbook, Anatomy & Physiology by Ken Saladin, now states in its newest 2020 edition that the foreskin is functional and circumcision "removes the most sensitive part of the penis." So medical education appears to be improving, but progress has been very slow. It would be ridiculous for North Carolina to revert to bad infant cutting policy now.

NPR show host Shelton Walden described learning about circumcision on his show in 1995:

“I felt an indescribable sense of loss that something had been taken away from me for eternity and I would never be able to get it back. Something had been stolen from my body without my consent, and my sex life had been irretrievably altered and damaged, like that of many other American men.

I sat in the quiet of the room for a few hours. I felt like someone had died. It was late in the day, and as I watched the sun going down, I wondered: “OK, how am I going to deal with this?”

I was deeply angry. I realized that I needed to process this anger into something positive—it was vital that I do so. I had to think about this: I knew that I would lose friends and acquaintances... But I also knew intuitively that this would change my life and I would never be the same. This was a risk I had to take, because if I did not speak up at least for me, who would?

reikert45 · 2021-08-10T21:09:05+00:00

I have long felt that the best way to end circumcision is to yank Medicaid funding for it. States where Medicaid doesn’t cover the cost have half the average rates of those that do.

I would love it if they would finally classify this as non-essential. As they say, money talks. And you would think all of the “budget conscious” conservatives could get on nord. with this. One less thing to spend money on. Not to mention the countless lives who would be spared the lifelong emotional trauma this procedure induces.

BornLearningDisabled · 2021-08-10T19:47:32+00:00

Isn't he a circumfetishist?

Title	Demand that the U.S. Surgeon General Classify Newborn Circumcision as Non-Essential
Author	Itrusttheinternett
Upvotes	336
Comments	23
Date	August 10, 2021 5:15 PM UTC (5 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/p1tptd/demand_that_the_us_surgeon_general_classify/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/demand-that-the-us-surgeon-general-classify.1058807 https://theredarchive.com/post/1058807

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