Ouch! Access TV Portland to air anti-circumcision film

Access TV's viewers may feel cut to the quick after watching the Portland premiere of a graphic anti-circumcision documentary, Whose Body, Whose Rights?: Examining the Ethical and Human Rights Issues of Infant Male Circumcision, Friday at 11 p.m. on Cable Channel 2.

At least that's what Suzanne Cook hopes.

Cook, founder and only member of the Maine chapter of the anti-circumcision group National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers (NOCIRC), is on a one-woman crusade to prevent Maine parents from circumcising their sons. To that end, she is publicizing the screening of Whose Body, Whose Rights? which disputes the health benefits often associated with the procedure and shows a circumcision of a baby boy.

You have to look at all the issues involved: why the foreskin is there, what its function is and the permanent harm that cannot be reversed, said Cook, who became Maine's only anti-circumcision activist after researching the procedure while she was pregnant with her second child and first son, Cody. I would have killed to have this information when I was (first) pregnant, she said.

Some doctors are less sure that the case against circumcision is airtight. I'm very cautious about information from groups for or against something, said Dr. Paul Stern, chief of pediatrics at Maine Medical Center. So far I don't think the information is conclusive. Stern is also neutral about the alleged health benefits that circumcision advocates claim - better hygiene and a reduced risk of cancer.

Circumcision is the surgical removal of the foreskin, a fold of skin covering the head of the penis. During the surgery, the infant is strapped to a board. Then the foreskin is torn from the head of the penis, slit lengthwise and removed. Cook said most circumcisions are performed without anesthetic, but Stern said doctors at Maine Medical Center use a local anesthetic for the procedure, a practice he said is almostuniversal.

The film comes to Portland TV at a time when circumcision has become increasingly unpopular nationally. Only 59.8 percent of men born in this country are circumcised today, down from nearly 90 percent in the early 1980's. American men only began to be routinely snipped in the late 1800's, when the practice was thought to prevent diseases caused by masturbation. The United States is the only nation where baby boys are routinely circumcised for nonreligious reasons.

Parents can agonize over circumcision when their religious and political beliefs clash. Reza Jalali, a practicing Muslim who served on the national board of Amnesty International until stepping down in October, faced that conflict when it came time to decide whether to circumcise his son, Azad. After Jalali discussed the decision with his family, Azad was circumcised under a local anesthetic. We (at Amnesty International) look at (circumcision) as really a form of torture, Jalali said. At the same time, as a practicing Muslim, that part of me wants the practice to continue.

Casco Bay Weekly welcomes you letters. Please keep your thoughts to less than 300 words (longer letters may be edited for space reasons), and include your address and daytime phone number. Letters, Casco Bay Weekly, 561 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101 or via e-mail: editor@cbw.maine.com

Dr. Paul Stern
Maine Medical Center
Chief of Pediatrics
22 Bramhall Street
Portland, ME 04102

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