CIN (Circumcision Information Network) 3:3

CIRCUMCISION INFORMATION NETWORK
Volume 3, Number 3, 18 January 1996
E-mail:  CircInfoNe@aol.com

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.

MOTHER'S AND WIVES ARE CASUALTIES, TOO
Contributed by lmm@efn.org (Linda McFarlane)

There may be some of you who don't want to read this post because I'm a
woman.  But after reading some of the posts, I just wanted you all to know
that there are women out here who do support you and what you are doing.  And
there are probably a lot more who would support you if they knew exactly what
was taken away from you.  We are all human beings and mutilation of human
beings (or any other creature) is WRONG whether it's a man or a woman or a
child or an adult, it's ALL WRONG!

I got on this list because I support my husband, Mike McFarlane, totally, 100
times 100% with his restoration.  I have seen the pain and suffering and rage
he has gone through because of it (and that's not even counting what he went
through as a child and young person growing up as a result of it...that only
became clear to him after realizing exactly what was stolen from him). 

Some of you may be thinking "well that's fine, but she has no idea of what
it's like to have been circumcised" and while it's true that I haven't
experienced circumcision, if it's true that circumcision is a form of rape
then I do have some sense of your pain because I was raped as a child.  I
also know the anguish of having allowed my son (who is now 27 years old) to
have been circumcised as an infant.  I knew nothing of men's sexuality then,
all I knew was that when I told them that I didn't want my son circumcised
because I didn't want him to suffer any pain, the doctor, nurses, and
everyone else I talked to insisted that it was necessary for health reasons;
that it would be very detrimental to his health if he wasn't circumcised;
that he would be receptive to all sorts of infections and diseases.  In my
ignorance of the truth about circumcision, I finally agreed.  Since learning
the truth, there's not a day that I don't wish I'd followed my instincts and
refused to allow it.  There's not a day that I don't hate myself for having
allowed it.  (I should probably mention here that I wasn't married to Mike at
the time, the person I was married to didn't say a word about not doing it,
had I been fortunate enough to have been married to Mike then, he would have
said "don't do it".  Even though he didn't know at that time all that had
been taken from him, he always wished he had all of himself).

Our son is a wonderful human being and we have an incredible relationship.
 We're friends as well as parent/son.  He (along with Mike and our daughter)
has been the joy in my life.  He has a right to know the truth about
circumcision and have the opportunity to choose for himself whether to
restore or not.  In January, when we receive the video "Whose Body, Who's
Rights" that we've ordered from NOHARMM, I will sit down with our son and
tell him what was done to him; my role in it; how much I regret it; the
possibility of restoration and show him the video.  I have no idea what his
reaction will be 

I also know the outrage of having been lied to in order for them to do this
despicable thing to my precious son.  Had I known then what I've learned
these last few months, it would have happened only over my dead body.

There are other casualties in addition to the men who were circumcised.

U.S. TAXPAYERS PAY FOR MUTILATIONS OF IMMIGRANTS
Contributed by Barry Ellsworth, BarryBE@aol.com

The following is a quote from "Doctors are Gods: Corruption and Unethical
Practices in the Medical Profession," by David Jacobsen and Eric D. Jacobsen,
Thunder's Mouth Press, 632 Broadway, 7th floor, New York, NY, 10012,
copyright 1994.

(Interview with a hospital administrator)
When I took this job as the administrator I started to look at various
activity reports.  Two in particular: the census list and the surgery
schedule.  The census list because not only did it tell me how many patients
were in house, but what doctors were admitting them.  The surgical list was
important because that's where we make our money, the greatest revenue in the
shortest period of time.

It didn't take long to recognize one surgeon's name operating every day, all
day long.  Every surgery was a circumcision, and what really made me curious
was that every patient had a Vietnamese name.

Upon investigation, I found that the community had a very large population of
Vietnamese refugees who, either by lack of custom or civil war, still had
their foreskins intact.  These guys wanted to be "Americanized," so they went
to a doctor who just happened to have an arrangement with this surgeon I
mentioned.  The surgeon would give the referring doctor $50 in cash for each
referral, and then he'd bill $200 for the surgery.  This was so successful
that he bought a bus to pick up the patients in the morning and return them
home several hours later.

Profitable?  You bet!  he could do three surgeries an hour with ease, and he
kept the patients coming all day long.  That's $450 an hour, $3,600 a day,
$18,000 a week, and with a month off for vacation every year, I figure he
grossed $864,000.  Not bad for a snip here and there with no major
responsibility for medical follow-up, that was the referring doctor's
responsibility.  Of course, the referring doctor did quite well too - almost
a quarter of a million dollars.

And who paid for all this?  You and I did.  Most of these patients had all
qualified for state medical assistance, and circumcisions were approved
without question.

Editor's note:  Worst of all, these men will likely have their sons
circumcised so they "won't hafta have it done later."

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

"The American Academy of Pediatrics, saying that even premature babies are
capable of feeling pain during surgery, has recommended the use of anesthesia
on newborn infants...the academy, in a policy statement published in the
September issue of Pediatrics, said that recent research shows that even
premature babies are capable of feeling deep pain in surgery." ("Baby Doctors
Say Newborns Can Feel Pain," San Francisco Chronicle, Sept. 7, 1987) 

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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