ERADICATION OF CIRCUMCISION

Doctors and other intactivists throughout the world are now in the process of eradicating the atrocious procedure of Partial Penile Amputation (Circumcision) from the face of the earth. Now that science has fully documented the harm of circumcision in the Proceedings of the International Symposia on Genital Integrity, more than 10 books published by the world’s leading scientific publisher, Springer, everyone must realize that this is no longer something that can be done to humans when they enter this world. Religions that promote this must look at what they are doing to their own adherents, and must realize that they are harming them for life, without a compelling reason for doing so. Harming the human body is something that no religion has the right to do. Bodily autonomy is a basic human right that takes precedence over religious dogma, and it must be protected.

Until circumcision is eradicated, someone has to alert every man and woman who has yet to have a child, that their doctor may try to persuade them to harm their precious newborn son. Often they will get the mother to sign a consent form right after the birth, when she is exhausted and only wants to get some sleep. What young people must do is to learn as much as they can about this procedure BEFORE they have a child. If they do, they may prevent a lifetime of regret for themselves, and a lifetime of unhappiness for their sons.

People get upset when they learn about pedophile priests who harm their victims psychologically. But when a doctor, of all people, tortures (by definition) and permanently mutilates (by definition), and often psychologically harms for life an innocent newborn boy, people are generally unaware of this atrocity.

Let’s be clear about what happens. The dictionary says that torture is the act or process of inflicting severe pain. It is still torture, whether the doctor intends it or not. Mutilation is the act of destroying or removing a material part of, so as to render it imperfect. Since there is no valid reason for doing this, why are they doing it? It is my understanding that the perpetrators are suffering under a compulsion, and do not stop, and will not stop until the law makes them stop. This compulsion arises from the fact that they have lost their foreskins, and cannot stand the idea that someone else might be able to go through life with one. Like pedophiles who become priests, many circumcised men enter the medical profession where they will be protected. It is an outrage that must and will be ended.

Australia has the Russell Clinic in Brisbane, where the recently retired Terry Russell claims to have done over 30,000 Partial Penile Amputations, without the consent of the victims. This clinic is known worldwide as a model of human evil. The clinic continues under younger doctors. Should it be permitted to continue performing atrocities on innocent victims?

It is important that we all understand what happens when a boy is circumcised. Let us start with the embryology. At approximately 17 weeks of intrauterine life, cells in the area of separation between the future foreskin and the glans initiate the process of creating the preputial space (the space between the glans penis and the intact foreskin). Before this happens, the foreskin and the glans penis (the tip) are fused together. (Tearing them apart during circumcision is identical to skinning an animal alive.) This process is completed by the age of 3 years in 90% of boys, but it may take as long as 17 years?for some boys to have a fully retractable foreskin.

The foreskin may be tiny at the birth of a six pound infant, but that of an adult is the size of a postcard folded, and contains some 20,000 Meissner’s corpuscles that enrich the experience of sexual union.

At birth, the separation of the foreskin from the glans has just begun. The newborn’s penis is, of course, not yet fully developed. Not only does circumcision interfere with its development, but it requires that the surgeon tear the skin from the sensitive glans to permit removal. As a result, scarring occurs, the surface of the glans thickens, and the urinary opening invariably gets smaller.

If physicians would simply leave the newborn’s penis alone, the foreskin would be left to fulfill its several functions.?

In infancy, the foreskin protects the glans from irritation and from fecal material.?

In adulthood, the function of the foreskin may at first seem obscure. The shaft and the glans of an intact (uncircumcised) man’s penis are covered by skin. Retracting the foreskin reveals the glans and makes the skin on the shaft somewhat loose. Of what use is this redundant skin? During erection, the penile shaft elongates, becoming at least 50% longer. The foreskin covers this lengthened shaft. The foreskin is designed to accommodate an organ that is capable of a marked increase in diameter, as well as length.

In addition, the foreskin is the most sensitive part of the penis and can enhance the quality of sexual intercourse. Anatomical studies demonstrate that the foreskin has, in the Ridged Bands, a much greater concentration of sensitive nerve endings than the glans. Also, the foreskin protects the glans from callousing, and the mucous membrane - covered tip protects the vaginal mucosa from irritation. In much of the world, lubricants are not needed. If there were the slightest possibility that the foreskin could contribute significantly to sexual enjoyment, is that not a cogent reason for rethinking our motives for this ritual procedure?

One thousand years ago, the Jewish sage Maimonides said that the effect of circumcision was “to limit sexual intercourse, and to weaken the organ of generation as far as possible, and thus cause man to be moderate… for there is no doubt that circumcision weakens the power of sexual excitement, and sometimes lessens the natural enjoyment; the organ necessarily becomes weak when… deprived of its covering from the beginning.”

Jewish parents today have a wonderful alternative - Brit Shalom, the ceremony without the cutting. There is information about this on the internet, and CelebrantsofBritShalom.org welcomes rabbis to sign on, and parents to discover these rabbis who will perform Brit Shalom.

Who has the right to order or perform such surgery on a newborn infant? I contend that no one does – certainly not the physician who should know better – since there is no proven medical reason to do so - only excuses, and the procedure is known by science to be harmful. Circumcision can always be performed in adulthood for men who desire it, with fully informed, written consent.

Physicians who continue to perform routine circumcision are not only harming infants but are also harming the integrity of the medical profession. They are committing fraud. They are unwittingly contributing to painful sexual relations, which often leads to divorce, and the disruption of families. It is hard to accept that these physicians – most of whom have been circumcised themselves – are using their medical licenses to continue this barbaric atrocity.