CIN (Circumcision Information Network) 3:5

CIRCUMCISION INFORMATION NETWORK
Volume 3, Number 5, 1 February 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.

RUPERT BILL BANNING GENITAL MUTILATION PASSES SENATE
Daily Camera (Boulder, Colorado), Tuesday, 30 January 1996
An article by Jennifer Mears, Associated Press
Contributed by Jere Debacker

DENVER -- Without debate, the Senate on Monday advanced a bill that makes
female genital mutilation -- a tradition in some African and Middle Eastern
Cultures -- a crime in Colorado.

The bill, which also requires Colorado to create a program to educate the
public about the procedure, won preliminary approval on a voice vote and
faces a final Senate vote.

Sen. Dorothy Rupert, D-Boulder, introduced SB31 after attending the Women's
Conference in Beijing, last fall.  While it is unclear how common the
practice is in Colorado, the issue has been gaining wider attention as people
move to the United States and bring the practice with them.

"It's something that is difficult to talk about," she said.  "But torture is
torture."

SB31 makes the practice a crime of child abuse and calls for sanctions not
only against those who perform the procedure, but also against parents or
guardians who allow the procedure to be performed on a child.

During committee debate last week, some legislators wondered whether Rupert
was targeting a serious problem in Colorado.  Rupert said the bill is
designed to be educational more than punitive.

Katie Reinisch, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood, told the
committee last week several gynecologists she had spoken with had seen
evidence of the practice.

U.S.-BOUND MALE ORPHANS, BEWARE
Contributed by Olivia Reyes, AdoptFla@aol.com

I recently heard about your newsletter your group's campaign against the
medical practice of circumcision.  I am affiliated with three major adoption
and child welfare agencies here in the greater Miami area, one of which is
Catholic.  I have to tell you that you people are trying to undo the good
that has been done for child care in the civilized world. 

I personally know of several hundred children every year that either come
into the US for adoption from Latin America or are referred to child welfare
services that deal with the Latin America community in Florida which is very
large.  Our agencies mercifully arrange for circumcision of male children,
mostly babies that come into the US for adoption.  They have been deprived of
good medical care in their home countries.  Circumcision, for God's sake, is
an act of the civilized world.  It is preventative medicine at its best and
you know of all the diseases that are prevented by circumcision.  To oppose
circumcision is to go back to the age of ignorance.  To encourage people to
abandon established sound practices is irresponsible.

AMERICAN MEDICAL FRAUD
Contributed by gburlin@eskimo.com (Gary Burlingame)

The AAP statement on circumcision says,

"The Academy says that circumcision has potential medical benefits and
advantages, as well as inherent disadvantages and risks.  Therefore, the
Academy recommends that the decision to circumcise is one best made by
parents in consultation with their pediatrician.  Factors affecting the
parents' decision include medical factors, aesthetics, religion, cultural
attitudes, social pressures and tradition.  Pediatricians should explain and
discuss the benefits and risks of circumcision with parents, and informed
consent should be obtained before the procedure is performed."

I have these questions:

Exactly WHY should social concerns be considered as input to a question of
surgery?

Exactly WHY does a medical document like "Circumcision: Pros and Cons"
mention religious circumcision?

Exactly HOW MUCH does it hurt a helpless baby to be circumcised without
anesthetic?

Exactly WHY does Sweden have a higher male longevity than the US, yet they
are intact?  Why doesn't the AAP study Sweden and learn the various things
they do right, such as leaving their children intact?

Why does body integrity never seem to figure into the AAP's equations about
well-being?

Why does the AAP let its members break the laws against soliciting for
unnecessary surgery in every state, vis-a-vis circumcision?

Does the statement on circumcision include females as well as males?

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

"Infants undergoing circumcision without anesthesia demonstrate physiologic
responses suggesting that they are experiencing pain.  The observed responses
include behavioral, cardiovascular, and hormonal changes.  Pain pathways as
well as the cortical and subcortical centers necessary for pain perception
are well developed by the third trimester.  Responses to painful stimuli have
been documented in neonates of all viable gestational ages.  Behavioral
changes include a cry pattern indicating distress during the circumcision
procedure and changes in activity (irritability, varying sleep patterns) and
in infant-maternal interaction for the first few hours after...." (Report of
the Task Force on Circumcision,  American Academy of Pediatrics, 1989)

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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