CIN (Circumcision Information Network) 2:42

Introduction
This weekly bulletin is a project of CIN, the Circumcision Information Network (formerly CIN CompuBulletin). The purpose of this weekly bulletin is to educate the public about and to protect children and other non-consenting persons from genital mutilation. Readers are encouraged to copy and redistribute it, and to contribute written material.
--Rich Angell, Editor.

THE YEAR 1995 IN REVIEW
This year, so much progress has been made, and so many events have taken
place, that I have decided to approach this year's summary a little
differently.  Rather than choosing the top ten developments -- a difficult
task, indeed -- or trying to list them in chronological order, I will divide
them into categories.  I would say we've made much more progress this year
than ever before, but I'm afraid that I would sound like a broken record.  I
apologize in advance for any omissions.  -The Editor.

*Organizations formed:  Intact Men Against Circumcision (IMAC) is founded by
Ken Derifield.  Jewish Associates of CRC is founded by Ron Goldman.  12 June:
 The Nurses of St. Vincent announce their founding of Nurses for the Rights
of the Child at a press conference.  The Fall/winter issue of the NOCIRC
Newsletter announces Physicians for the Rights of the Child, founded by
George Denniston, M.D.

*Articles:  January:  Playgirl prints a terrific article about foreskin
restoration and our movement.  June:  Natural Health magazine finally gets it
right (for the most part), after having ignored the issue.  7 Sept.:  Rolling
Stone magazine helps get the word out about our movement.  November:  Cambio
16, "The Newsweek or Time of the Spanish speaking world," prints a lengthy
article about our cause.  Later, La Presse, the most widely read French
newspaper in Quebec, prints a lengthy, informative article about circumcision
and our movement.  

*Documentaries:  4 September:  "It's a Boy," a powerful, shocking documentary
on ritual circumcision is aired in England.  November:  NOHARMM's historical,
provocative and truthful documentary on circumcision, "Who's Body, Who's
Rights?" is completed.

*Successful lawsuits/settlements:  21 July:  A hospital in Alabama is
successfully prosecuted and fined for circumcision of a boy without parental
consent.  November:  A clinic in New York agrees to pay a $1.2 million
settlement to an 8-year old immigrant who's ritual circumcision at age three
was botched, leaving him severely mutilated.

*Known deaths/excessive mutilations:  18 July:  A 5-year-old boy dies of
circumcision in Texas.  Also in July:  One boy dies and 12 others are
hospitalized in South Africa as a result of ritual kidnapping and
circumcision.

*Demonstrations, marches, and other actions:  15 February:  Pro-circumcision
advocate Edgar Schoen is challenged at a conference at Kaiser Permanente
Hospital in Oakland, California, by educated anti-circumcision activists.  8
April:  Activists stage a protest, which gains international attention, at an
AAP convention in Philadelphia.  8 May:  Activists protest at Moscone Center
in San Francisco supporting Dr. Sorger's  resolution against routine
circumcision.  30 May - 4 July:  Activists participate in and protest at the
Child Health 2000 conference in British Columbia.  27-29 July:  Activists
march to and rally before Marin General Hospital in California, where NOCIRC
founder Marilyn Milos was fired ten years ago for informing parents about
circumcision.  The attendance of this action was the highest ever.  13-18
October:  Richard DeSeabra attends an AAP Conference in San Francisco,
raising important issues and finding support within the medical community.
 Meanwhile, activists demonstrated outside and passed out literature.

*Other events/developments:  In a truly historic moment, The Nurses of St.
Vincent Hospital of Santa Fe, New Mexico, are officially and legally
protected by contract from being forced to participate in circumcision.
 April:  Skin clones using infant foreskins (a project of Advanced Tissue
Sciences) are widely reported in the media.  10 April:  Nurses in British
Columbia at their annual conference agree to address circumcision, overcoming
last year's suppression of the issue.

*Bump in the road:  (As reported in Australian Pediatrics, 10 Oct.:):  The
Australian College of Paediatrics revises its policy on circumcision, taking
a softer, more ambiguous stance.

UPCOMING EVENTS:  PREMIERE OF NOHARMM DOCUMENTARY
Thanks to Waynerobb@aol.com.
The show times for NOHARMM's documentary "Whose Body, Whose Rights?" at
Casting Couch Theatre, 950 Battery St., San Francisco (near Green St.), are
as follows:

Thursday, 4 January :   19:00 and 21:00 
Friday, 5 January :   19:00 and 21:00 
Saturday, 6 January :  17:00, 19:00 and 21:00 
Sunday, 7 January :  16:00, 18:00 and 21:00 

On Thursday at 18:30 there will be a wine reception.

After the show on the following times and dates some prominent people will be
available to talk briefly and be available for questions and answers:

Thursday:  Billy Ray Boyd, author of "Circumcision, What it Does"

Friday:  A sharing by several men on "Men Speak Out," and Jim Bigelow, author
of "The Joy..."

Saturday:  Morris Sorrells, M.D. and Marilyn Milos, R.N.  "Docs and Nurses
Say No!," and Jim Bigelow, author of "The Joy..."

Sunday:  Miriam Pollack, "Jewish Feminist Thought," and Billy Ray Boyd,
author of "Circumcision, What it Does," and Jim Bigelow, author of "The
Joy..."

Jim Bigelow and I, R. Wayne Griffiths, will be at all of the showings for
conversation.  There will be a NORM meeting in room 106, 150 Eureka Street,
San Francisco from 13:00-15:00 on Sunday 7 January.  (men only).  Jim will be
at our meeting after a long absence for book writng and house refurbishing.
 Hope to see you there.  Limited seating, come early.  Ample on-street
parking near theatre.

You can donate $10 for the Thursday shows.  $8.50 for the other shows.

You can get a copy of the film for $39.95 to be delivered in January.

Hope to see all of you there!  It is a most POWERFUL FILM!  a number of men
who previewed it for public broadcasting said to Tim afterwards that they
were enraged at what had been done to them, not realizing the full story
until now!   

ARTICLES REQUESTED
Contributed by steven_svoboda@sfbayguardian.com (Steven Svoboda)
I'm an attorney and am in the process of researching in preparation to write
an article or possibly co-write a book on circumcision.  Anyone who knows of
any articles on the subject with relevance to human rights or legal issues,
please contact me.  I have found the easiest to find articles but believe
there are more out there.   Articles on female circumcision are much easier
to find; I've come across several dozen of them.  Thanks! 

SCREAM OF THE WEEK 
(Statements Documenting Infant Circumcision Pain)
Submitted by Johnny4444@aol.com

"[Circumcision] is a stressful and painful event ...with ...changes in heart
rate, respiratory rate, transcutaneous pO2, adrenal cortical hormone
secretions, sleep patterns, and behavioral patterns during and/or following
circumcision. Indeed, circumcision has been recommended as a model for
studying pain in the neonate, and its effects are suggested to be long
lasting."  (Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, Vol. 5, No. 5, October
1984) 

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION call NOCIRC, the National Organization of
Circumcision Information Resource Centers at (415) 488-9883, fax (415)
488-9660.  Ask about the resource provider nearest you.  For written
information, write NOCIRC, PO Box 2512, San Anselmo, CA 94979, with SASE
and/or donation if possible.

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