Opinion: Banning Circumcision is Totally Nuts

There are other forms of "genital" mutilation such as piercings. Is this included in his legislation?

No, the point is that men who are circumcised as babies don't get to choose whether they keep their foreskin or not.

Lets not forget the HEALTH BENEFITS FOR WOMEN when men ARE CIRCUMCISED. Perhaps that is why some people have been doing it for centuries. Ask these people doing the bitching about this, if they are UN-circumcised? If not they should stay out of the fray. Women don't get to make this choice, men who don't have it don't know what it is like to still have it. If you want to ruin the love life of your sons in the future DON'T CIRCUMCISE, want him to have all the choices, cut it. Many a man has to make that choice as an ADULT because girls don't like it. You can't change size but you can control cut or not cut. No one likes A`naturale.

One removes skin, one removes the entire organ. So if you want to equate the two you would be talking about chopping off the penis.

@ Stopthelies- don't talk about lying while making stupid generalizations. My friends and I have talked about this often and half the time, you can't even tell the difference between cut and uncut when a guy's aroused. If an uncirced guy is careful about keeping clean, it's no more a health risk than having sex with a circed guy. If you're going to debate circumcision at least come up with actual facts, instead of being an idiot. Oh, and it's "au naturale."

stopthelies, What are you talking about?? Most men in the world are uncircumcised. It's... um... Natural. As in the way God intended a man to be. I prefer uncircumcised men, and I certainly prefer men who like women to also be uncircumcised. I know there ARE some men in the world who like their women to be mutilated. I steer clear of them. I want my man whole, too.

Although I disagree with legislating against circumcision, I have regretted for many years having my son circumcised. As a young adult, any reference to it would make him cringe. The surgery itself was very traumatic to him as an infant, and he was delivered to me after the procedure strapped to what looked like a drumhead, his entire body heaving as he screamed and screamed. I could hear him screaming in the room next to me as they performed the procedure. The nurse brought him straight in to me, unfastened him from the "drumhead" and placed him in my arms and said, "Here, I think he needs some love." Barbaric. I've regretted it ever since, and now, being married to a man who was not circumcised, I wish even more I hadn't allowed the doctors to mutilate my son. There truly is no medical justification for it.

While I agree that there should be no legislation on this issue as it is a slippery slope issue, I do have one comment to make about your statement. Your friend was an adult and made an informed decision about what was right for him, your child will never have that choice because you made it for him. I'm not saying you are right or wrong, but that is just how I feel about it...

your answer is dumb. let your son decide like your riend did.

" It provides benefits such as 12x less likely for UTI, +22x less likely for cancer, 28% less risk for herpes, 35% for HPV & 60% for HIV/AIDS. The risks are about 0.2% and are typically minor & easily corrected."

Actually, if you do more current research, you'll find that most of those studies have been found to be flawed, or just plain wrong. The HIV study, in particular, has been disproven and, if I remember correctly, was even denounced by the original researchers. If circumcision provided all these benefits, why don't we see huge numbers of penile cancer or HPV or Herpes in countries that don't usually circumcise? The numbers just don't add up.

I do find it very interesting that this is taking place in SanFrancisco. You can't legally have your dog's tail docked, it's ears cropped or your cat declawed in SF but you can cut off part of your son's genitals.

To those who liken circumcision to ear piercing or tattoos, the difference is autonomy. It's my body and my choice. If I choose to pierced or tattoo or brand or cut, it's my body to make those choices. My children will have the same choices when they are responsible adults, including allowing my son to choose whether or not he has a foreskin.

To respond to Yellerdawgs' comment:

"Actually, if you do more current research, you'll find that most of those studies have been found to be flawed, or just plain wrong."

One frequently finds such claims on the Internet, often from anti-circumcision activists who'd very much like the research to be wrong, but it's important to consider the claims carefully and consider whether the claims are valid. Sometimes there are valid criticisms. More often, they don't hold up to scrutiny.

"The HIV study, in particular, has been disproven and, if I remember correctly, was even denounced by the original researchers."

The fact that you refer to "the HIV study" is troubling, as there have actually been more than forty, so it isn't clear which you mean. The three randomised controlled trials, which are regarded as the gold standard of study design, and have consequently received the most publicity, certainly haven't been disproven, nor have they been denounced. Indeed, they have effectively been endorsed by the World Health Organisation.

"If circumcision provided all these benefits, why don't we see huge numbers of penile cancer or HPV or Herpes in countries that don't usually circumcise? The numbers just don't add up."

As a general rule, we often do see that. For example, in the developing world, there are often much higher rates of penile cancer in countries with low circumcision rates. But obviously we don't see it in every case because circumcision isn't the only factor affecting these conditions; differences in other factors can interfere, hiding or exaggerating the apparent effect of circumcision. That's why epidemiologists rarely use country-level comparisons, preferring more reliable study designs instead.

Wrong. You made up those numbers. Six rigorous studies say that circumcision increases the risk of STD's because there are immune system function in the foreskin. For instance, lysozyme is produced there. Lysozyme fights HIV and bacteria.

when you tell people your business, you set yourself up for bullying and unwelcome input. Keep your private life private--stay off blogs, and the like--it's NOBODY'S business,,it's not supposed to be up for discussion. This is the problem with everything in America,,,stop letting everyone else dictate your private life. You do this by not advertising your private life. What the h#ll is wrong with people now days-keep your mouth shut, and people stay out of your business. They can't comment on what they don't know!!