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Summer 2010 Volume 8, Issue 2

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Summer 2010 Volume 8, Issue 2 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Protecting Children’s Newsletter Bodily Integrity © ARC Summer 2010. Volume 8 , Issue 2 (Whole Number 23 ) In This Issue Section 1: about having children. The look on his Section 1: Special Report Special Report face as he froze was priceless, the fork- ful of linguine suspended halfway to- How I became an Intactivist wards his mouth. He paused a second Karen Glennon…………………..…....page 1 How I Became an Intactivist and said “They’re a great excuse to buy Section 2: Mass. MGM Bill toys.” I liked his wit! It wasn’t long By Karen Glennon ARC Submission before I realized we shared many of the Steven Svoboda.……………………….page 3 I must have been in my teen years same ideas and I began to ask him when I learned what circumcision was. questions about issues that are impor- Bird’s Eye View I remember thinking it was odd to do Peter W. Adler, MA, JD……………...page 4 tant to me. We talked about birth, hos- that to a baby. It just seemed wrong. pitals, nursing, and co-sleeping. I will A Day in Intactivist History Why would a baby be born wrong – never forget the moment I asked him, Matthew Hess…………………...…....page 5 such that he needed something cut off “What do you think about circumci- Section 3: AAP Flip Flop to carry on in the world? sion?” His response: “Hell no, no way ARC Letter to AAP Members Any practi- would I do that to a child and frankly, Steven Svoboda…………………...…..page 6 I’d like mine back!” It was such a re- cal knowledge AAP Public Retraction I gained as a markable moment for me because it Allison Wyckoff, Pediatrics……...…..page 7 youngster was the issue that showed me I had found THE guy. We were married in Letter of Retraction to ARC about sex and Errol R. Alden, MD………………......page 7 anatomy September of 2000. I became pregnant came from with our first baby in the autumn of Group Backs Ritual ‘Nick’ health class in 2001. Pam Belluck, New York Times……....page 8 school, one Some bad medical experiences AAP and FGM conversation Dan Bollinger……………………….....page 9 while I was hospitalized as a very sick with my 4-5-year old have left me with a life- AAP Okays, then Withdraws mother and long skepticism and distrust of the David Wilton……………………….…..page 9 personal ex- medical community. (I had a misdiag- Open Letter to the AAP perimentation. nosed kidney infection that was prop- Georganne Chapin……………….….page 10 Karen Glennon and son Our household erly sorted out by a small-town family Carter Thank You But… was not one of doctor when I left the care of military Peter Adler…………………………...page 10 comfortable physicians upon my father’s retirement conversation, healthy body images and Section 4: GIAW from the Navy.) While my young hos- trust in my parents. Nudity never hap- pital experience was not fun, it has March 27, 2010 pened and sex was a forbidden topic. been one of my life blessings as it Greg Hartley………………………….page 11 When I got out into the world on my caused me to see the need to be an edu- March 27 - 30 own, my inquiring mind frequently cated medical consumer. Gregor Waltz…………………....…...page 11 brought me to independent bookstores. I spent my whole pregnancy and the March 31 It was in such a place that I found a next three years researching childhood Van Lewis………………………….....page 12 copy of Jim Bigelow’s book The Joy of vaccinations – prompted by my Section 5: Dutch Position Statement Uncircumcising. While skimming nephew’s adverse reaction. Mothering Important Step Forward through it, I formed my first solid un- Magazine has been a leading publica- Peter W. Adler…………………….....page 13 derstanding of the damage of circumci- tion discussing vaccine issues, some- sion and how wrong it is. thing I knew as I had been reading it on Section 6: AMSA Convention I was years away from having chil- and off since I was nineteen years old. Convention Report I joined the Internet age after getting John Geisheker…………..……...…..page 14 dren and involved in finding my own path through the world. While I ques- married and sought out Mothering as a Section 7: From the Executive Director resource and discovered their online tioned many things at this stage in my Executive Director’s Message….....page 16 life, circumcision was not a frequent discussion community. I ventured out NOCIRC Symposium Schedule…..page 17 subject of thought. of the Vaccination Forum into other areas of the site and discovered the ef- Section 8: In The News In 1998, I met my husband. On our forts being put forth to educate parents first date, I asked him what he thought News Items and Blogs………..…...page 18 in the forum The Case Against page 2 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Newsletter Summer 2010 Circumcision. I was asked to be a mod- after seeing their perfection and their He will not carry the physiological erator for the community in November innocence, their helplessness and their memory of the pain of circumcision. 2004 and did so until February 2009, vulnerability – after having the mother He will not grow up sexually wounded. when family life got too busy for me to awakened in me – I thought I really He will not grow up experiencing the continue. I helped with a few different understood the violation of circumci- violation of his first relationship of forums while there, but the circumci- sion. I was wrong. trust – with his parents. He will not sion forum was my real home. I have to In May 2008, our third child was grow up and want to perpetuate this credit the existence of Mothering’s born – a boy. pain upon his own son. For this I am online community and the work of the grateful. membership there for lighting the intac- I attended the 2009 GIAW demon- stration with my baby boy in arms. At The pain of circumcision ripples out tivist spark in me. I have always op- in so many directions. First harmed is posed circumcision. I just knew instinc- this demonstration, a gathering was held to honor the work of three very the baby boy. Next is the mother-child tively that it was wrong. It wasn’t until bond. For those of us who understand I read the science and considered the dedicated and courageous people in this movement: Marilyn Milos, Hanny this issue, I doubt that it is ever far human rights issues that I felt moved to from our minds. I know that when I move beyond disagreeing with it and Lightfoot-Klein and Soraya Mire. Dur- ing this event, James Loewen showed a see a baby boy, my first thought is “I knowing I’d never request it for my wonder if he’s intact?” I have an ac- child to wanting to teach others. video history of the intactivist move- ment that he had created. I have never quaintance that has two circumcised I am immensely inspired by the ef- wished to watch a circumcision video. boys. I never see those children without forts of David Wilson, who for 17 con- I have never been able to look directly getting a visual image of them on a cir- secutive years, has organized the Geni- into the face of a baby experiencing cumstraint. On the flip side, when I tal Integrity Awareness Week (GIAW) circumcision violence, even a still pho- meet a man from an intact culture, I demonstration in Washington, D.C. tograph. Watching this well crafted consciously think, “I bet he’s intact!” Going to D.C. to attend this event has documentary, I saw some images that While this is such a painful issue to be given me an avenue to teach others. I caught my eye before I could look informed about, it also presented op- have attended this event for the past away. I was overcome with emotion portunities for me to educate and to four years. It is very interesting talking and an ache in my heart! Tears of pain help people. When someone “gets” the face to face with the general public! I issue, it is a wonderful feeling. fell down my cheeks. What I had saved hope to continue being present for this my son from became clear to me in a Every spring, my trip to the west every year and I look forward to being way that it was not back when I was the lawn of the nation’s Capitol for Genital able to be there for more days of the mother only of girls. Integrity Awareness Week renews me. week as our children get a little older. I returned to our hotel room and One can have a great impact via vari- After the birth of our two daughters, picked up our sleeping son from the ous Internet avenues, but talking to people face to face allows you to see crook of his daddy’s arm because I Attorneys for the Rights needed to hold him. I needed to feel the facial expressions and the body lan- guage and to understand the audience of the Child his breath, to see his chest rise and fall in a personal manner. The people we 2961 Ashby Ave., with each sleepy breath, to sniff the nape of his neck and draw in the dis- talk to are as diverse as you can imag- Berkeley, CA 94705 ine and so are their reactions. We see Fax/phone: 510-595-5550 tinctive scent of my baby.
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