AHRQ Report Targets Circumcision
March 20, 2008 by Amy Spangler | 2 questions or comments
Only 31 percent of newborn boys born in Western hospitals were circumcised in 2005, compared to 75 percent in the Midwest, 65 percent in the Northeast, and 56 percent in the South. Immigration from Latin America, where circumcision is uncommon, and lack of insurance coverage were among the factors cited as influencing circumcision rates.
Circumcision is the surgical removal of the foreskin from the penis. According to the AHRQ report, the procedure is usually done for religious, cultural, or cosmetic reasons. Some organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, maintain there is insufficient evidence that routine circumcision is medically necessary. However, some research shows a slightly reduced risk of penile cancer, urinary tract infections in newborns, and HIV transmission.
Comparable rates:
Canada: 14% (down from 47.4% in 1973)
UK: about 3% (down from 35% in the 1930’s)
Australia 12.6% (down from 90% in 1950)
South America and Europe: less than 5%
Your last sentence seems intended to suggest that these “slight reductions” in risk might make routine circumcision medically necessary, or at least justifiable. But you ought to mention that other research shows no such reduced risk of penile cancer or UTI, and there are many problems with the claim about HIV - which is not a threat to newborns anyway. (For example, in at least six African countries, a higher proportion of circumcised men have HIV than intact men.)
Then there are the real risks of surgery, now including Methycillin Resistant Staphlococcus Aureus (MRSA).
Finally, a serious objection to non-consensual male genital cutting is the human rights aspect. Whose body is it? (And circumcision is not “a decision that parents have to make for the boy” - very, very few adult men ever decide to have part of their own genitals cut off without pressing medical need.)
This objection is thrown into sharp relief by the double standard that makes even the most minor, sterile and anesthetized cutting of any female illegal, with no regard for religion or custom - or even the adult woman’s own informed consent, in some jurisdictions.