MEDICAL FRAUD and the criminal assault of boys
What is the Purpose of Anti-circumcision Activism?
A Message to Circumcised Males and Parents of Circumcised Males
C J Louis
Anti-circumcision activism may be viewed by circumcised males and parents of circumcised children as a personal attack. Circumcised males might think people who are working to end circumcision are trying to diminish them in some manner. They may feel that the anti-circumcisionist agenda is to pronounce hyperbole intended to make them feel like lesser men. Parents of circumcised children may feel that all we want to do is make them feel guilty. Members of religious groups that practice circumcision may also feel singled out. In light of these possible feelings, I feel it is necessary to point out what the anti-circumcision movement is not.
Circumcised brother, we are not arguing that being circumcised makes you a lesser man, nor that an intact man is “better.” We are simply stating that routine infant circumcision is wrong. We believe that newborn circumcision is a gross violation of human rights. It has nothing to do with the degree of masculinity. It doesn’t even have to do with the debate of being circumcised versus being intact. A man shouldn’t be judged because of an aspect in his life over which he had no choice. To any male, we state that we cannot judge you on the basis of the status of your genitals; being a man is not based on whether you have a foreskin or not. This does not mean that what was done to you in infancy, or that what is done daily to baby boys is justified. Some men may minimize their circumcision by saying they can’t remember it, or that it hasn’t done them any harm. Does this legitimize newborn circumcision? If so, what else are adults permitted to do to a child and get away with it “because he/she doesn’t remember?”
To parents who chose to circumcise their child, whatever the reason, you hopefully wanted the best for your children. In light of this, it is perfectly understandable if in the past, you chose to have your child circumcised. You were informed that this would be best for your child, and you willfully complied. With little or no information indicating otherwise, how might you have known? You must know that it is not our intention to make you feel guilty. We’re not blaming you for the naïve, uninformed choices you made in the past. You must know, however, that you were misinformed. Factual information was withheld from you, and if you truly knew better, you would have objected to having your child circumcised.
Admitting you were deceived is difficult, but the sooner you can acknowledge this, now that the truth about the illegitimacy of circumcision is known , the sooner you can inform other parents and advise them against a terrible choice. Our purpose is to educate and enlighten parents about the wrongs of neo-natal circumcision, not to make them feel guilty. Don’t be fooled! Circumcision is a worthless operation. Doctors who circumcise newborns take advantage of naïve parents, since they collect profit from a harmful yet worthless procedure. You can help other parents make the right choice of refusing circumcision for their children.
Doctors, you have a duty to protect the best interest of your patients. The Hippocratic Oath states “first, do no harm.” The myths and superstitions used to promote neonatal circumcision have been long debunked, and you have a professional and moral obligation to stop circumcising children. The truth is out, and to ignore it and continue to circumcise, you are KNOWINGLY harming children, and you will someday be held accountable for your actions. You must cease propagating the practice and must refuse parents’ wishes to circumcise their newborns. Collecting profit for procedure for which there is no medical necessity, especially a procedure that harms the rights and body of an un-consenting individual, is medical fraud.
Parents, mistakes in the past due to ignorance cannot be helped, but the truth is out there now. There is no need, nor has there ever been a need, to circumcise your children. Requesting that your boy be circumcised, now that the truth is exposed, means that you are willingly asking that your son be mutilated. Requesting the willful mutilation of your child’s body for which there is no medical necessity means you too would be guilty of betraying your child’s trust. Nobody, neither parents nor doctors, has the right to amputate normal body parts of an un-consenting individual.
Unfortunately, being against neo-natal circumcision is also viewed by some as anti-Semitism, because Jews circumcise too. I will not attempt to evade the issue of freedom of religion, but 95% of circumcised US males are gentiles. Why are gentiles being circumcised when it has not been indicated to them? And isn’t circumcising a baby boy depriving HIM of religious freedom? The fact is, female circumcision is unanimously banned here in the United States, and not even religious requirements can legitimize this practice. Furthermore, the United Nation’s Charter on the Rights of Children, signed by the United States of America in 1945, states that children should be protected from cruel religious practices, not limited to, but including circumcision. Why then, should followers of Judaism be exempt and be permitted to circumcise boys? We are not Anti-Semitic. We believe that the amputation of healthy body parts from non-consenting individuals is ethically wrong no matter what culture or religion. Inclusively, there are Jewish groups who believe that there should be an end to the practice of infant circumcision.
We are not fully opposed to circumcision either. Some adults choose to undergo circumcision, even though oftentimes, this is not medically indicated. This is their prerogative. There are many detrimental facts about circumcision, but if an adult male decides to become circumcised, even after knowing the detrimental side-effects, (then) this is his choice. An adult male wishing to circumcise himself has something a small child doesn’t, and that is a conscientious decision. No one else is making that decision for him. It is HIS choice, and he’ll have to deal with the consequences, good or bad. It’s not fair that males circumcised at birth have to endure consequences which they may resent, as a result a decision someone else made for them as defenseless infants.
It’s NEONATAL circumcision that is wrong, or any circumcision that was forced on any individual to which we opposed. Let’s not forget that male circumcision occurs in Africa and in Arab nations, where boys who are conscious of what is happening to them must undergo circumcision against their will. As in infantile circumcision, these boys are restrained and have a piece of their most intimate and sensitive organ severed right before their eyes. Pro-circumcisionists who mock the comparison of male circumcision to female circumcision ignore, or simply don’t know about such cases. Would anti-female circumcisionists, and ironically pro-neonatal circumcisionists, be for, or against male circumcisions like these? Would these same people favor female circumcision if it were done in infancy?
I don’t believe that any rational individual would favor circumcision regardless when it was done – and for whatever reasons – social – religious or traditional reasons. If female circumcision cannot be justified for any of these reasons, there is likewise no justification for male circumcision. Since there are no valid medical reasons, then why are boys in America and the world still undergoing a destructive mutilation? We don’t need further excuses in order to perpetuate the practice; we just need to end it.
As anti-circumcision activists, we aren’t trying to emasculate males who are circumcised. We aren’t trying to make parents of said males feel guilty. Nor is our purpose anti-Semitic. What we are saying is that neo-natal circumcision is unethical. No one has the right to violate another’s body without his consent. In America, female genital mutilation is outlawed, and cultural and/or religious reasons can’t be used to justify it; we believe the same should apply to male genital mutilation. Aside from being a worthless and unethical procedure, neo-natal circumcision harms a new-born baby boy, and it puts him at serious risks, including a botched operation that may need correction at a later date, infection, and even death. Our purpose is to educate people about what is done to babies every day in hospitals across North America. We want to expose neo-natal circumcision for what it is; infant genital mutilation.