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. I needed to hold the boy I saved from this horror hostility and utter denial, complete sup- www.arclaw.org and weep for those who were not port and everything in between. In email: [email protected] general, a mother who has circumcised saved, especially my dear husband. J. Steven Svoboda.……..Executive Director a son and older circumcised men have Albert Fields...... …...... Newsletter Editor Having a boy has changed how I an impenetrable wall of denial. In con- Peter Adler………………….Legal Analyst view this issue. I became very moved trast to that, it is remarkable how Travis Konzelman……….…....Networking when I became a mother to girls, but quickly the youth “get it.” In a three- Coordinator nothing prepared me for how personal to five-minute chat covering the sexual Georganne Chapin…..….Technical Advisor it became when I had my own baby function and impact, the lack of equal Jeff Borg...... ….....Graphic Designer boy. When I held his little body, saw Rick King……………………..Webmaster protection, bodily integrity, and the his perfection and looked into his eyes, medical ethics, we can take a group of Associates of Attorneys for Rights of the the matter of circumcision became per- young people from ignorance to agree- Child receive no compensation. All contri- sonal in a way it had never been before, ment. I am amazed how fast a young butions are tax deductible and go directly in a way it could never have been be- man who is a victim of circumcision towards paying the expenses of protecting fore. Knowing that I have protected children’s genital integrity. can process this information in an un- him in this way is profound to me. derstanding way. I have high hopes Your comments regarding the ARC Protecting him in this way is my obli- that the current late teens and young Newsletter and its contents are welcomed. gation to him, but I see it as a gift to all twenty-somethings, our future parents, [email protected] humans that he will touch in his life. will leave their children intact, page 3 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Newsletter Summer 2010 regardless of their own circumcision 1. Reasons for Strong Concern with the penis, sentencing its victims to a status. In the spirit of those high hopes FGM and MGM lifetime of sensory deprivation. The and for all the boys and men who were The harm caused by FGM is well- more tissue excised, the greater the not saved, I will continue to speak out documented and well-known. Proven damage to the penis and the greater the and educate. sequelae of FGM include clitoral cysts, effect on sexual functioning and capa- labial adhesions, urinary tract infec- bility. A severe circumcision will ren- tions, kidney dysfunction, sterility, and der erections painful or even impossi- ble. Section 2: loss of sexual feeling. “Immediate Massachusetts MGM Bill complications… include haemorrhage, No medical association that has issued infection, tetanus and trauma to adja- a policy on MGC, including the Ameri- cent tissues, septicemia, shock and can Academy of Pediatrics and the ARC submitted comments to the Mas- death. Long-term complications in- American Medical Association, has sachusetts Committee on the Judiciary clude impaired urinary and menstrual found sufficient “potential benefits” to regarding then pending Senate Bill No. function, vaginal stenosis, chronic justify the procedure. Thus, the proce- 1777, which would outlaw genital mu- genital pain. . ., cysts, neuromas, ulcers, dure causes serious harm and lacks tilation of males and females. (There is infertility and incontinence. . .” medical justification. no current state law in Massachusetts The parallel harm caused by MGM has In an era of sharply rising health care relating to FGM.) A copy of the legis- become increasingly well-understood. costs, public health care dollars are lation can be found at http://www. The harm circumcision causes to babies scarcer than ever before. Realistically, mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/186/st01/ by the severe levels of pain has been every dollar spent on one issue takes a st01777.htm. The Committee's hearing convincingly proven. Concrete medi- dollar away from another place that took place on March 2. As discussed cal evidence demonstrates that relative money could have been spent. It is elsewhere in this Newsletter, the bill to an adult, the circumcision experience therefore imperative that no taxpayer was unanimously rejected, even by the is significantly more traumatizing to an money be squandered on procedures bill's sponsor. infant, who has not yet developed without a benefit significantly greater Thanks to MGMBill and Matthew methods to cope with pain and whose than their cost. Male circumcision Hess for leading this initiative. neurological pathways are not yet fully clearly fails under this criterion. For developed. The level of adrenal corti- that reason, in recent years, no fewer Steven Svoboda sol response to the pain and stress of than ten states have decided to “just say Attorneys for the Rights of the Child the procedure exceeds the response to no” to public Medicaid funding for the blood sampling or injections and is not procedure, adding their number to the significantly reduced even by applica- six other states that previously did not Massachusetts’s Senators and tion of an anesthetic. This pain in turn fund male circumcision. Representatives Must Protect causes permanent and irreversible Boys and Girls 2. Proposed Legislation Properly changes in the developing brain, chang- Protects Boys and Girls ARC Testimony to Massachusetts Joint ing brain physiology. The psychologi- Committee on the Judiciary Regarding cal impacts of MGM are well docu- Senate Bill No. 1777 properly protects Senate Bill No. 1777 mented. both boys and girls from genital mutila- tion. To do otherwise would violate Introduction In a widely noted article, three re- equal protection. Several authors have We understand that Massachusetts’s searchers found that an average circum- noted the necessity of addressing both Senators are currently considering leg- cision removes 51% of a male's genital practices on the same footing. Sirkuu islation, Senate Bill No. 1777, which skin sheath and also a highly signifi- Hellsten concludes that “both male and would ban female genital mutilation cant number of nerve endings including female genital mutilation, particularly (FGM) and male genital mutilation extremely specialized tissue unique to when performed on infants or defense- (MGM). that part of the body and fundamental less small children … can be clearly to human sexual response. Complica- As a non-profit educational organiza- condemned as a violation of children’s tions, which include deaths and loss of rights.” Fadwa El Guindi reaches a tion devoted to educating the American the entire penis, occur with a frequency public about the importance of protect- similar conclusion: “In considering cir- of between 2-5% or more depending on cumcision, we must include male and ing the bodily integrity of all children, the definition applied. An estimated we are heartened that Massachusetts is female forms in the same discussion. . . 100 deaths occur annually in the United “ Sami A. Aldeeb Abu-Sahlieh agrees. considering passing a bill to safeguard States as a result of this medically un- the welfare of boys and girls. “The right to physical integrity is a justified procedure. principle. We must accept or reject Senate Bill No. 1777 laudably ad- An important study published in 2007 genital cutting in totality. If we accept dresses both FGM and MGM, regard- by the prestigious BJU International this principle, we must refrain from ing both of which numerous reasons for demonstrates that circumcision re- cutting of children’s genitals regardless concern exist. moves the most sensitive portions of of their sex, their religion, or their page 4 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Newsletter Summer 2010 culture.” physical and emotional harm. He ar- circumcision “a cure in search of a dis-

3. Conclusion gued that boys have a constitutional ease”. The false belief that it protects right to the same protection that the men from sexually transmitted diseases Massachusetts Senators should protect lawprovides to girls. (STD's) and AIDS, he said, will do both male and female babies by passing Charles Antonelli, the bill's sponsor, more harm than good and may undo Senate Bill No. 1777. Genital mutila- years of safe sex education. tion causes lasting and severe harm to said that although circumcision is an the boys and girls who are compelled to uncomfortable topic, it must be dis- Ronald Goldman, Ph. D., Executive have the procedure performed on their cussed openly. He testified that the Director of the Circumcision Resource bodies. Important studies documenting procedure amputates a large, healthy, Center, who wrote the landmark book, the substantial losses circumcision pro- erogenous body part with about 20,000 Circumcision: The Hidden Trauma, duces have recently appeared. The cur- specialized nerve endings, leads to an said that circumcision causes extreme rently proposed legislation would ad- unfulfilled sex life, and is assault and pain and trauma to infants, who some- vance justice and conserve scarce tax- genital mutilation. He said, “It’s obvi- times go into shock, and can cause payer and government resources. Just ous that our culture is destined to con- long-term psychological harm similar say yes to protecting all babies! tinue this immoral and unethical prac- to post-traumatic stress syndrome. He tice unless the government steps in to said that some doctors know that cir- protect its most precious and delicate cumcision is harmful but perform it A Bird’s Eye View of the Hearing On citizens.” anyway due to the financial incentives or a lack of courage. the Massachusetts Bill to Outlaw Genital Mutilation Brian O'Donnell, a physician’s as-

Peter W. Adler, MA, JD sistant who has lectured at Yale medi- Legal Analyst cal school, testified that medical and Attorneys for the Rights of the Child nursing schools usually teach nothing about the foreskin other than that On March 2, 2010, the Judiciary “cutting it off is better - it's cleaner”. Committee of the Massachusetts legis- He testified that while trying to appear lature held a public hearing on the unbiased, doctors instill fear to per- “Massachusetts State Prohibition of suade parents to circumcise their sons. Genital Mutilation Act”. The co-Chairs Seeing 20,000 patients had taught him of the Committee attended the full that circumcision can cause lasting hearing, which lasted several hours, Peter W. Adler damage. He testified, “The truth about while many other legislators were ab- the value of the foreskin and the harms sent or, in some cases, represented by An attorney and the Executive Di- of circumcision has been suppressed, assistants. rector of Intact America, Georganne intentionally or not, by the medical The bill proposed to make it a crimi- Chapin, testified that the U.S. is the community for years.” nal offense to cut any part of the geni- only Western country to circumcise A Massachusetts physics teacher tals of a minor except when medically boys routinely and that no medical as- said that female and male genitalia look necessary. Eighteen people spoke in sociation in the world recommends it. identical during development, and that favor of the bill, and an additional 500 She said it is “unethical at its core” for both deserve equal protection. He said people submitted supporting materials doctors to remove a healthy, functional that the male sexual organ has evolved to the legislators. Three people testi- body part from infant patients in a pain- for a specific purpose over 65 to 100 fied against the bill. ful, risky procedure without their con- million years; that the foreskin is 15 sent. She argued that we do not re- Supporters square inches in area in an adult, has move other body parts that might years 240 feet and tens of thousands of nerve The national organization later become diseased. She added that fibers and fine touch receptors, and is MGMBill.org drafted the legislation. the surgery wastes $1 billion per year. the most sensitive part of the penis and Its representative, Matthew Hess, told Fox News interviewed Attorney Cha- an integral part of it. the legislators that a 1996 federal law pin twice after the hearing. made female genital cutting illegal, and Similarly, the authors of the book Speaking eloquently without notes, that 14 states have enacted similar stat- Sex As Nature Intended It, Jeffrey and Anthony Losquadro called circumci- utes. He said that the pending bill, Kristen O'Hara, argued that circumci- sion medieval and barbaric, and easy which his organization has also filed in sion makes normal sex impossible and money for doctors, who also sell the Congress and 44 other states, is gender blunts sexual response. Mr. O'Hara foreskins to biomedical companies. He neutral, and thus would ban male geni- said that one function of the foreskin is argued that innocent infants, not their tal cutting or circumcision as well. Mr. to cover the glans and keep it moist and parents, have a fundamental human Hess said that it is well-documented sensitive. Mr. O'Hara said that the right to make their own decisions about that the circumcision of boys, like girls, penile shaft is internal, and permits a their own bodies as adults. He called is unnecessary, dangerous, and causes “gliding action” that benefits both man page 5 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Newsletter Summer 2010

The Decision

The Committee certainly gave the public the time to present its views, for and against, although as stated, only a few legislators actually attended the hearing. The author found the propo- nents’ arguments thorough and persua- sive, while the opponents relied upon a claim of religious rights. During the Massachusetts Joint Committee Hearing, Boston, March 2, 2010 hearing, however, the co-chair, Senator l to r: Charles Antonelli, Georganne Chapin, Brian O'Donnell, Cynthia Creem, who is Jewish, ap- Matthew Hess, Laurie Evans peared plainly uncomfortable with graphic testimony about the effect of and woman, reduces friction and pre- cruelty, and also violates the federal circumcision on sex. She left the hear- vents loss of lubrication. Mr. O'Hara and state constitutional right to privacy ing temporarily and was overheard tell- said that women are more likely to cli- under the Fourteenth Amendment. He ing a Jewish support not to worry, that max during sex with an intact man, argued, as did several other speakers, the bill would not pass. The Boston which studies show women prefer. that protecting females from genital Herald also called passage of the bill a cutting but not males violates the Equal “long shot”.

Laurie Evans, the Jewish director of Protection clause. He said that the law New York’s National Organization of Indeed, on April 20, 2010, the Sen- is clear that parents can hold religious ate Ethics and Rules Committee ac- Circumcision Information Resource beliefs but not risk harm to their chil- Centers (NOCIRC), told the Committee cepted the Judiciary Committee's report dren (circumcision risks death), and that S. 1777 "ought not to pass". On that under Jewish law, the son of a Jew- that children have their own right to ish mother is Jewish, whether circum- April 23, 2010, an online publication choose a religion. He also argued that reported that State Senator Creem had cised or not, and that despite great pres- parental consent to unnecessary surgery sure she had kept her son intact. She killed the bill. Her aide reported that is invalid. He said that the legislature she had written to her constituents in said that many Jewish mothers confide is sworn to uphold the federal and state to having been horrified by their boy’s Newton and Brookline, many of whom constitutions and laws and to provide a are Jewish, that she had made sure that circumcision ceremony. She said that speedy remedy, and urged the commit- initially the ceremony involved remov- the Committee voted on this bill with tee to endorse the bill. an ‘ought not to pass’ recommendation. ing only a small amount of foreskin, not all of it, and that several Jewish or- The proponents’ arguments includ- “Although there are literally hundreds ganizations recommend a peaceful ing some videotaped testimony are of bills that the Committee declines to birth ceremony instead. She urged the available online at: www.mgmbill.org. take favorable action on each session, it is highly unusual for a bill to get this panel to watch a circumcision and Opponents raised the issue of botched circumci- unfavorable designation; in fact, so far Three Jewish individuals spoke sions. The second Jewish mother to this session S. 1777 is the only such against the bill. The first, Dr. Thomas speak, Kathryn Mora, testified she had bill. Most recently, on Tuesday, April Friedman, testified, without elaborat- been devastated that her son was taken 20th, the full Senate accepted this ad- ing, that circumcision has health bene- from her in the hospital and circum- verse report. Now, nothing more can fits, and that the bill would interfere cised without her consent. happen this session, and Sen. Creem with religious and parental rights. He will continue to monitor any attempt to An attorney then argued that cir- expressed concern that doctors could be move such a bill in the future.” cumcision is already illegal, regardless criminally liable for piercings. Chris- of any “pros and cons” and parental tine Funnell of Christians and Jews beliefs. He noted that in banning fe- United for Israel testified that circumci- The Massachusetts MGM Bill Public male genital mutilation, Congress sion is mandated by God and required Hearing: A Day in Intactivist History found that it violated federal and state by the Jewish faith. She called the bill statutes and constitutions; and that the an assault on religion and the rights of By Matthew Hess same constitutional protections apply to parents. Mrs. Myers said that what the MGMBill.Org all people and thus to boys as well as Bible commands cannot be mutilation On March 2, 2010, the Massachu- girls. He argued that circumcision is and should not be infringed upon. She setts Joint Committee on the Judiciary criminal assault in Massachusetts, and added that her son showed no sign of heard testimony on S. 1777, the Massa- also constitutes child abuse, which in- discomfort during the procedure, and chusetts Male Genital Mutilation cludes impairing any organ or risking that he would not be Jewish unless cir- (MGM) Bill. The bill was written by harm. He further contended it violates cumcised on the eighth day after his MGMbill.org and was submitted to the human rights guaranteeing children se- birth. legislature by Charles Antonelli, our curity of the person and freedom from Massachusetts state office director. page 6 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Newsletter Summer 2010 Although other legislative committees proposed bill does is put the issue on seemingly innocent "ritual nick" almost around the country have debated bills the radar scope. It’s a way that the certainly violates the Federal Prohibi- to abolish female circumcision, to my bill’s proponents can begin a dialogue.” tion of Female Genital Mutilation Act, knowledge this is the first time that a I agree with that statement, and hope- whose criminal provisions became ef- legislative committee debate in the U.S. fully the intactivist movement as a fective in March 1997. You acknowl- has focused primarily on prohibiting whole gains some increased public sup- edge in your statement the contradic- forced male circumcision. All in all, it port as a result. tory impression that may be conveyed was a pretty amazing day. by policies that condone male circum- MGMbill.org will make another for- Seventeen peo- mal attempt to find sponsors for our cision (MGC) while attempting to re- ple (including my- MGM Bill proposals in 2011. In the strict female genital cutting (FGC). The self) spoke in fa- meantime, we’ll continue with our gen- only course that is consistent with the vor of the bill, and eral education and lobbying efforts. US Constitution (including the Four- House Committee More information and selected testimo- teenth Amendment right to equal Chairman Eugene nies from the Massachusetts MGM Bill protection), statutory and case law, O’Flaherty al- hearing have also been posted to: medical ethics, and human rights is to lowed all of us to www.mgmbill.org/hearing.htm. prohibit all genital cutting that is not medically necessary and that is per- Matthew Hess deliver our com- plete testimonies. formed on individuals unable to con- Together I think we covered the most sent to the procedure, including chil- Section 3: AAP Flip-Flop on dren. Parental assent is not an adequate important topics, including the ethical, FGC Position Statement medical, legal, psychological, and reli- substitute for individual consent with gious aspects of circumcision. FOX regards to male circumcision as it lacks On May 1, the American Academy of News videotaped the beginning of the a therapeutic benefit that exceeds the Pediatrics issued a surprising position hearing, and part of Georganne Cha- harm from complications and loss of statement condoning minor forms of functional tissue. pin’s testimony was included in their female genital cutting (FGC) and sug- news segment. Three speakers testified We trust that lightening your oppo- gesting that its member pediatricians against the bill, arguing mainly from a sition to female genital cutting is not could participate in such surgeries Jewish and religious freedom perspec- being done to help set up a parallel (despite federal and state laws that for- tive, and one other speaker did not take move toward diluting your 1999 bid such actions). This set off a chain a position. statement on MGC. Flawed as the latter of events that we recap in Section 2A, statement was, it did acknowledge Despite the overwhelming number including the AAP's retraction of its the lack of medical benefit to the proce- of supportive testimonies, on April 20, May 1 statement. Section 2B contains dure on males. It is imperative that the Committee voted unanimously that four commentaries on this chain of both statements be maintained or the bill “ought not to pass.” Based on events. strengthened. some follow-up conversations and news posts, it appears that Senator Section 3A: Chronology of Events The AAP has no business brokering Cynthia Creem, the Chair of the Senate cultural procedures, even those that Judiciary Committee, who happens to 1: ARC Letter to the may support future revenue streams for be Jewish, did some pretty intense be- AAP Committee Members some of its members. In this time of hind-the-scenes maneuvering to kill the American Academy of Pediatrics reduced resources, more than ever, it is bill. The main reasons given for defeat- Committee Members imperative that medical organizations ing the bill were that it would deprive May 25, 2010 such as the AAP focus on what matters parents from “expressing their freedom most-promoting the safety of our chil- Dear Committee Members: of religion,” and that it would unjustly dren, and working to eradicate-not con- prevent parents from making “health We have reviewed the AAP's latest done or justify-harmful, non-beneficial, choices” for their children. policy statement on Ritual Genital Cut- unethical practices such as FGC and

Even though the MGM Bill was de- ting of Female Minors and we are MGC. feated, I think it was still worth the ef- shocked to see such an ethically and fort. Bills like this one don’t become medically incoherent document issue law until they have a public hearing, so from your Committee and from your 2: On June 1, the American Acad- this was a necessary step in the law- venerable organization. What truly is emy of Pediatrics (AAP) publicly re- making process. Also, the hearing fo- paradoxical is for the nation's leading tracted its May 1 policy statement con- cused significant national and even organization of doctors treating chil- doning mild forms of female genital world attention on the legality of infant dren to weaken its opposition to a prac- cutting (FGC). On June 2, the AAP circumcision. House Judiciary Com- tice proven to cause substantial, irrepa- sent a letter to Attorneys for the Rights rable, lifelong harm to children. of the Child (ARC) announcing this mittee member Rep. Lewis Evangelidis was quoted as saying: “[W]hat this Moreover, your proposed, retraction. As you can see from com- paring the two retractions, which are page 7 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Newsletter Summer 2010

reproduced below, some interesting However, confusion ensued when a awareness about this issue. differences exist between the two. few sentences were mistakenly inter- 4: Letter of Retraction Sent by The public version twice attempts to preted as endorsing a milder version of AAP to ARC shift responsibility to unnamed third FGC for some immigrant girls who parties for "misinterpreting" the AAP's could be returned to their home coun- June 2, 2010 statement as endorsing certain forms of tries for more severe forms of the prac- J. Steven Svoboda FGC, but such a "misinterpretation" tice. Executive Director was actually simply a straightforward The controversy ignited wide dis- Attorneys for the Rights of the Child reading of what the AAP actually said. cussion via telephone calls, letters and 2961 Ashby Ave. In its June 2 letter sent to ARC, how- blog posts from all over the map. Berkeley, CA 94705 ever, the AAP refrains from any at- tempt to imply mistakes by those inter- On May 27, after hearing from Dear Mr. Svoboda: preting its policies. members and others, the AAP Board of The American Academy of Pediat- Directors and leaders responded by re- Amusingly, even stunningly, the rics (AAP) has retired its 2010 policy tiring the statement and replacing it statement on female genital cutting AAP attempts to pat itself on its back with the following: for unintended benefits of its misguided (FGC). The AAP Board of DIrectors May 1 policy, concluding that, "One The American Academy of Pediat- has approved the following as AAP rics (AAP) reaffirms its strong opposi- policy on FGC: good thing to emerge is that the discus- sion has shown a bright light on this tion to female genital cutting (FGC) "The AAP reaffirms its strong oppo- issue and raised the world's awareness and counsels its members not to per- sition to FGC and counsels its members about this harm to young women." In form such procedures. As typically not to perform such procedures. As the June 1 public retraction, a version practiced, FGC can be life-threatening. typically practiced, FGC can be life- of this statement appears but in a more Little girls who escape death are still threatening. Little girls who escape modest, less questionable form. (The vulnerable to sterility, infection and death are still vulnerable to sterility, psychological trauma. italics appearing in the public retrac- infection, and psychological trauma. tion below appear in the original, The AAP does not endorse the prac- "The AAP does not endorse the which can be viewed at http://aapnews. tice of offering a "clitoral nick." This practice of offering a 'clitoral nick.' aappublications.org minimal pinprick is forbidden under This minimal pinprick is forbidden un- federal law and the AAP does not rec- der federal law and the AAP does not ommend it to its members. recommend it to its members.

3: Public Retraction Issued By AAP The AAP is steadfast in its goal of "The AAP is steadfast in its goal of protecting all young girls from the Academy clarifies position protecting all young girls from the harms of FGC. denouncing all forms of harms of FGC."

female genital cutting AAP President Judith S. Palfrey, M. AAP President Judith S. Palfrey, D., FAAP, emphasized that the Acad- By Alison Sulaski Wyckoff MD, FAAP, said, "Our intention is not emy’s goal is to protect the health and Associate Editor, Pediatrics to endorse any form of female genital well-being of all children. June 1, 2010 cutting or mutilation. We retracted the aapnews.aappublications.org "The May 2010 statement aired policy because it is important that the some important controversies in the world health community understands Reaffirming its strong opposition to field about how to end these practices the AAP is totally opposed to all forms female genital cutting (FGC), the AAP worldwide," said Dr. Palfrey. of female genital cutting, both here in Board of Directors retired a recent pol- "Unfortunately, the discussion about the U.S. and anywhere else in the icy statement on FGC and replaced it the controversial ‘ritual nick’ led to world. with another statement clearly de- confusion and misinterpretation of our nouncing the practice. "The AAP's goal is to protect the policy." health and well-being of children," Dr. The original version, Ritual Genital She said the Academy published the Palfrey said. "One good thing to Cutting of Female Minors, from the clarification to reaffirm that the Acad- emerge is that this discussion has shone AAP Committee on Bioethics, was emy is "opposed to all forms of female a bright light on this issue and raised published in May Pediatrics and fea- genital cutting including the ritual the world's awareness about this harm tured in AAP News (aapnews. nick," whether it is in the U.S. or else- to young women." aappublications.org/cgi/content/ where in the world. full/31/5/31). Updated from a 1998 ver- Regards, sion, the statement detailed the health The practice of FGC is widespread, Errol R. Alden, MD risks of FGC, provided historical per- with 4 to 5 million girls being subjected Executive Director/CEO spective and urged members to counsel each year to dangerous procedures, ac- families not to have such procedures cording to Dr. Palfrey. She said the dis- performed. cussion has increased worldwide page 8 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Newsletter Summer 2010

5: The reputable UK newsmagazine said some pediatricians had suggested Dr. Friedman Ross said that the The Economist, in its June 12 print is- that current federal law, which “makes committee members “oppose all types sue, examines female genital cutting criminal any nonmedical procedure of female genital cutting that impose (FGC) in some detail with reference to performed on the genitals” of a girl in risks or physical or psychological the recent American Academy of Pedi- the United States, has had the unin- harm,” and consider the ritual nick “a atrics (AAP) position statements, tended consequence of driving some last resort,” but that the nick is which first (on May 1) condoned and families to take their daughters to other “supposed to be as benign as getting a then (on June 1) rejected the permissi- countries to undergo mutilation. girl’s ears pierced. It’s taking a pin and bility of minor forms of FGC. The arti- creating a drop of blood.” “It might be more effective if fed- cle is titled, "Female Genital Cutting: eral and state laws enabled pediatri- She said the panel had heard anec- Ending a Brutal Practice," does not cians to reach out to families by offer- dotes from worried doctors. carry a byline, and appears on pp. 66- ing a ritual nick as a possible compro- “If we just told parents, ‘No, this is 67. (www.economist.com) mise to avoid greater harm,” the group wrong,’ our concern is they may take The closing paragraph of the article said. their daughters back to their home paraphrases Dena Davis, the head of But some opponents of female geni- countries, where the procedure may be the AAP committee that generated the tal mutilation, or F.G.M., denounced more extensive cutting and may even May 1 statement condoning FGC, and the statement. be done without anesthesia, with un- is worth quoting in full for its eloquent, “I am sure the academy had only sterilized knives or even glass,” she succinct call to apply US constitutional said. “A just-say-no policy may end up principles of equal protection to genital good intentions, but what their recom- mendation has done is only create con- alienating these families, who are going cutting: to then find an alternative that will do fusion about whether F.G.M. is accept- Ms. [Dena] Davis argues that in more harm than good.” able in any form, and it is the wrong America at least, it is not acceptable to step forward on how best to protect Currently, more than 130 million criminalise all female genital cutting young women and girls,” said Repre- women and girls worldwide have un- while adopting a relaxed stance to the sentative Joseph Crowley, Democrat of dergone female genital cutting, accord- male sort. She suspects that by allow- New York, who recently introduced a ing to the American Congress of Obste- ing male circumcision while forbidding bill to toughen federal law by making it tricians and Gynecologists. It is mostly even a symbolic cut on girls, Western a crime to take a girl overseas to be cir- performed on girls younger than 15 in countries show respect for only those cumcised. “F.G.M. serves no medical countries including Ethiopia, Sudan religious and cultural practices with purpose, and it is rightfully banned in and Somalia. Consequences can in- which they are already comfortable. the U.S.” clude severe complications with preg-

Steven Svoboda Georganne Chapin, executive direc- nancy, childbirth and sexual dysfunc- Attorneys for the Rights of the Child tion. tor of an advocacy group called Intact America, said she was “astonished that The academy’s statement acknowl- a group of intelligent people did not see edged that opponents of the procedure, Section 3B: Commentary the utter slippery slope that we put phy- “including women from African coun- sicians on” with the new policy state- tries, strongly oppose any compromise Group Backs Ritual ‘Nick’ as ment. “How much blood will parents that would legitimize even the most be satisfied with?” minimal procedure.” Female Circumcision Option

By Pam Belluck She added: “There are countries in Dr. Friedman Ross said, “If you New York Times the world that allow wife beating, slav- medicalize it and say it’s permissible, is May 7, 2010 ery and child abuse, but we don’t allow there a possibility that some people will www.nytimes.com people to practice those customs in this misunderstand it and go beyond a nick? country. We don’t let people have slav- Yes.” In a controversial change to a long- ery a little bit because they’re going to But she said the risk that people de- standing policy concerning the practice do it anyway, or beat their wives a little of female circumcision in some African nied the ceremonial procedure, usually bit because they’re going to do it any- on the clitoris, would opt for the more and Asian cultures, the American way.” Academy of Pediatrics is suggesting harmful one was much more danger- A member of the academy’s bio- ous. that American doctors be given permis- sion to perform a ceremonial pinprick ethics committee, Dr. Lainie Friedman And the statement said that “in some or “nick” on girls from these cultures if Ross, associate director of the Mac- countries where FGC is common, some it would keep their families from send- Lean Center for Clinical Medical Eth- progress toward eradication or amelio- ing them overseas for the full circumci- ics at the University of Chicago, said ration has been made by substituting sion. the panel’s intent was to issue a ritual ‘nicks’ for more severe forms.” “statement on safety in a culturally sen- The academy’s committee on bio- sitive context.” ethics, in a policy statement last week, page 9 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Newsletter Summer 2010 AAP and FGM Constitution had passed the Federal exception for the most horrifying of

By Dan Bollinger Prohibition of Female Genital Mutila- practices in the name of harm reduc- International Coalition for tion Act of 1995 would have to have tion. In the view of many, it is as if the Genital Integrity been written in truly gender neutral lan- AAP were to encourage a limited guage to cover boys as well as girls. In amount of child beating to stave off the In the May 27th issue of the New that case, male infant circumcision possibility of child murder under a the- York Times, the president of the would be a thing of the past by now. ory that abusive parents will be less American Academy of Pediatrics Or, more likely, the bill wouldn’t have likely to beat too much if they are al- (AAP) retracted its recent proposal that passed at all, and both boys and girls lowed to beat a little. girls be genitally mutilated, following a would be at risk today. firestorm of media attention and Intac- The reality is that one person's ritual tivists writing to the physician’s group. nick is another person's mutilation. ICGI agrees with their retraction, but What definitions were to be used? The demands that they also retract their po- AAP Okays Some Forms of FGC, U.N.'s? Those written into various sition on male genital mutilation. Then Withdraws Approval Under a state, federal or foreign jurisdiction Firestorm of Criticism laws? Perhaps those of the ethnic com- Female genital mutilation, even the munity from which the girl comes? “nick” that the AAP suggested, is pro- By David Wilton Genital cutting always takes on a life of hibited by federal law, but this didn't Circumcisionandhiv.com its own and often devolves into the stop the group from stepping onto the The American Academy of Pediat- most invasive where perceived to be slippery slope of promoting genital cut- rics shocked the community of anti- minor or cosmetic. Any examination of ting. The AAP thereby raised a hornet’s FGC activists earlier this quarter when cosmetic surgeries generally and male nest of complexities. Who will decide they announced that the United States circumcision particularly will reveal which girls receive a “nick?” Who will should consider allowing female geni- this truism. Medical opinion as to what decide how large the “nick” is to be? tal mutilation also known correctly and a "nick" is would be ever changing just Will “nicking” include tissue removal? rightly as female circumcision (so as as medical opinion changes as to what Will the girl be asked if she wants to be not to differentiate and distance it from a complication in male circumcision is. “nicked?” What controls will be put male circumci- The conflicts of interests between the into place to prevent “nicking” from sion) in its least doctor, the victim, the parents, and any becoming more severe? Will the AAP severe form. Be- prosecuting authority to characterize supply “nick” inspectors? fore hurriedly and define would create chaos and pain

Sadly, the negative attention that withdrawing the and suffering only the surgery itself “nicking” girls received from this new statement under a could rival.

AAP policy statement was much more firestorm of criti- Moreover, the whole concept of intense than what they have been re- cism, they stated equality under the law is that excep- ceiving regarding their impending re- that a medical- tions to prohibitions against violating vised statement about male genital mu- ized "ritual nick" the rights of others are prohibited even tilation (MGM). MGM is much more should be made where a whole community's cultural severe than a “nick,” but for some un- legal in deference identity is at issue. Supposedly, we're known reason, it is acceptable to many to communities David Wilton living in the 21st Century and not the Americans. who practice this 8th. Hence, we adhere to the decidedly

atrocity and in an effort to exercise cul- modern notion of equal protection. A It is interesting to speculate that if tural sensitivity to their way of life. the Equal Rights Amendment to the little girl's right to genital integrity is They reasoned that better to allow a not abridged solely due to her age and mild form of mutilation in order to de- ethnic derivation. If a grown woman, ter parents from taking their children whether Somali-American or farm-bred overseas where they would suffer more Midwesterner, wants to submit to severe forms of the practice. blood-letting, let her. However, she The objections to such a stance are should be thrown in jail if she does it to many and varied. However, let’s start her daughter and so should any doctor with the most obvious. These are often complicit in it.

US citizen children who enjoy or Advocates such as the AAP should should enjoy the protections of US law be civilly held accountable for encour- and the Constitution said laws are Attorneys for the Rights aging such barbarism. founded upon. Cultural practices, save of the Child website: FGC’s counterpart, male circumcision, So why did the AAP make this terri- www.arclaw.org have long been subject to laws govern- ble policy statement? It may not be ing everyone without exception. The about the girls. Rather it could be about AAP is suggesting that the law make an the upcoming revision to the male page 10 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Newsletter Summer 2010 circumcision policy statement. The will be squarely in the center of the Georganne Chapin, founder and ex- equal protection argument works just as next campaign. As this experience has ecutive director of Intact America, well against infant circumcision of taught, until all children are safe, none welcomed the AAP’s retraction of its boys. You can't say girls deserve pro- are. policy, but she noted that the Academy tection, but boys don't and hide behind recognized that “many forms of female a thin argument of health benefit that On July 1, 2010, Intact America pub- genital cutting are less extensive than will never reach consensus in the medi- lished an ad in the Washington Post to the newborn male circumcision com- cal community. Eventually, something urge pediatricians to protect the human monly practiced in the West.” has to break. Either boys and girls can rights of all babies — boys and girls be cut or they can't. Collectively. Either “Ultimately this is a gender equity alike — from unnecessary genital sur- the laws of the land protect children issue – and therefore one of human gery. from genital cutting. Or they don't. rights,” reads the open letter to mem- taken as a whole. bers of the AAP Task Force published Open Letter to Task Force Members as an ad in the July 1 issue of the I wouldn't be surprised if the AAP is Says Failing to Give Same Washington Post. looking far and wide to adjust all its Protections to Boys and Girls Is positions to be able to counter any ar- Intact America was formed to “Extraordinary Betrayal” of Medical change the way America thinks and gument that supports male children Ethics, Human Rights over doctors and parents who wish to talks about neonatal male circumcision, cut them. If the AAP decides to cave in By Georganne Chapin an unnecessary surgery performed Intact America and ARC more than a million times a year for to pressure to recommend male circum- cision against all reasonable assess- In the wake of the American Acad- cultural or other non-medical reasons. ments of the evidence, this will be ex- emy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) short-lived The open letter says it is “an extraordi- actly how it appears. call to amend the national ban on fe- nary betrayal” for the AAP to limit pro- tection from genital cutting to girls The double standard in the protec- male genital cutting, Intact America – the largest organization championing only, despite its avowed commitment tions afforded boys and girls in this re- to “protect the health and well-being of gard will have to be addressed eventu- all children’s human right to an intact body – published an open letter to an all children.” ally. It is possible that we will witness a long trajectory of dissembling positions AAP Task Force on Circumcision call- “At Intact America, we have fo- to the logical conclusion, which is the ing on the medical organization to ex- cused our efforts on male circumcision, rejection of double standards regarding tend its protection to all children, in- because we had felt there was consen- cluding baby boys. sus in law and common sense that fe- genital cutting of either sex. male genital cutting was unacceptable Ironically, Dena Davis, a law and The AAP issued a new in this country,” said Chapin. ”The ethics professor at Cleveland State Uni- AAP’s recent flip-flop on this issue versity and the legal consultant on the policy state- ment in April shows us we were wrong. We are AAP’s policy review argued in The grateful that the AAP rescinded its call Economist “that in America at least, it calling for a relaxation in to allow a ‘ritual nick,’ but what were is not acceptable to criminalize all fe- they thinking in the first place? We male genital cutting while adopting a the federal law banning now call on them to apply the same relaxed stance to the male sort. She concern for human rights to baby suspects that by allowing male circum- all forms of female genital boys.” cision while forbidding even a sym- bolic cut on girls, Western countries cutting to al- At the same time it proposed, and show respect for only those religious low doctors to then rescinded, a call to allow some and cultural practices with which they perform a forms of female genital cutting, an are already comfortable.” She makes a “ritual nick” AAP task force is considering shifting good point. It’s hard to know whether Georganne Chapin on the clitoris its current neutral recommendation on she makes this observation deliberately of young girls neonatal male circumcision to one in to be ironic or if she’s some kind of whose parents, for cultural reasons, favor of the surgery. This consideration stealth intactivist provocateur. We can might otherwise send them overseas for comes despite the fact that no major hope for the latter. a more extensive and dangerous form medical authority in the world – not the of the surgery. Under pressure from AAP, not the Centers for Disease Con- In withdrawing the AAP statement, Intact America and others, and in the trol and not the American Medical As- AAP President Judith S. Palfrey, MD, face of proposed federal legislation sociation, which currently describes the FAAP said, "The AAP's goal is to pro- (The Girls Protection Act, H.R. 5137) surgery as “non-therapeutic” – today tect the health and well-being of all banning the taking of girls outside the recommends neonatal male circumci- children." We shall see if she means it. country for the purpose of female geni- sion. If she does, the revised policy will be tal cutting, the AAP withdrew its state- The Task Force’s charge apparently favorable to boys. If she doesn't, she ment. page 11 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Newsletter Summer 2010 arose after African studies of consent- policy as the Royal Dutch Medical As- wise. One man I’ve saw at GIAW tried ing adult men purportedly showed that sociation? That is, to state that you to draw [GIAW Founder] David Wil- circumcision may play a role in miti- denounce FGC in part because it vio- son and me into a comparison of the gating HIV transmission from women lates girls' rights, and to denounce male genital integrity and abortion issues. I to men, but not men to women, and not circumcision because it is unnecessary declined to give an opinion and told men to men (still the most prevalent surgery with a risk of complications him we are focused on genital integrity; modality for sexual transmission of and violates boys' rights. we can’t dilute our efforts by including HIV in this country). Chapin noted that other causes. David gave him a vague even if these studies’ results are valid personal opinion and said his view did Section 4: Genital Integrity for adults in poor countries with very not represent any genital integrity or- Awareness Week (GIAW) high HIV prevalence, this has nothing ganization. We also talked to several to do with babies in the United States. open-minded people willing to consider Genital Integrity Awareness Week Because a principle of bioethics re- (GIAW), March 27, 2010 the issue, as well as some who thought we were nuts – one young woman said quires medical necessity and informed By Greg Hartley consent to justify something as invasive she would “definitely circumcise any of NOCIRC of Pennsylvania her sons, because that’s just gross.” A as surgery – and because neither can be present in neonatal male circumcision – On Saturday afternoon, March 27, I proudly intact Puerto Rican guy from the AAP has a high hill to climb to an- participated in Genital Integrity Aware- Brooklyn with his two intact teenage swer a simple question; Chapin said: ness Week (GIAW) on the west lawn sons stopped by and gave us some very “If it’s not right to cut the normal geni- of the US Capitol. The day was much encouraging words – he took an IA colder than recent years, which likely brochure and plans to donate. tals of baby girls, how can it possibly be right to cut the normal genitals of contributed to fewer participants and Some of my general observations: I baby boys?” tourists. The number of participants think one of our biggest obstacles is varied throughout the day – as I recall, “denial.” Most American men are sim- the greatest number was about ten. ply unwilling to accept that they have Thank You For Denouncing FGC, But ... We encoun- been harmed in any way by being cut, tered the usual even after an explanation of impact. By Peter Adler range of reac- The “important religious ritual” excuse ARC Legal Analyst was mentioned more often than I ex- tions and feed- I commend the AAP for revoking back, from an- pected. this policy statement, and for clearly tagonistic to very denouncing all forms of female genital supportive and GIAW, March 27 - 30, 2010 cutting including a "ritual nick" or everything in By Gregor Waltz "minimal pinprick." See http:// between. We aapnews.aappublications.org. talked to several The west lawn of the Capitol is

The AAP gives as reasons for the high school rather expansive and the building itself revised statement that FGC is illegal groups; there is quite imposing, but the first thing Greg Hartley under federal law, and that it is the was some seri- that catches the eye of passersby is the AAP's goal to protect all young girls ous questioning word "PENIS" on a giant sign with a from the harms of FGC. Thus, the AAP among the snickering. We met some bunch of other giant words. Who cares does not base its revised policy on any very interested tourists from Europe about the other words when there is the rights of girls to personal autonomy or and South America – some knew a lit- word “penis” about which to giggle and bodily integrity. tle about circumcision and others were with which to get photos? At least, shocked by the procedure. I talked with hundreds of children on school trips Relatedly, as you may know, on a Spanish student at Catholic Univer- (and even many May 27, 2010 the Royal Dutch Medical sity who is planning to apply to law adults) seem to be Association (KNMG) issued a policy school and was very interested – I dis- expressing that statement urging strong deterrence of cussed IA and ARC with him (a future sentiment as they male circumcision. The association colleague perhaps…). I handed out IA shriek with de- stated, “The rule is: do not operate on brochures to those who seemed inter- light in a way that healthy children.” It risks complica- ested and mentioned the importance of only children can. tions and violates "children's donating money. Although some [constitutional] rights to autonomy and An American 20-something man run straight up to physical integrity". the sign in the made an interesting observation during Gregor Waltz Girls and boys have the same consti- a discussion with a large group. He middle of the tutional rights, including the right to be mentioned that since most people in lawn, most are a treated equally. May I call upon the our culture assume the foreskin is un- bit apprehensive and meander more AAP to adopt the same reasoning and sanitary, we must convince them other- slowly up to it, testing the limits of page 12 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Newsletter Summer 2010 their freedom as their chaperones look that he is intact, so I point out that he Muslim god through genital cutting. on. By the way, the sign reads: has not had himself circumcised and Fortunately, my positive experiences "WHOSE PENIS? WHOSE BODY? explain that that is true of most of the during this Genital Integrity Awareness WHOSE RIGHTS?", but who cares? It world's men and that, by the cleanliness Week (GIAW) illustrate to me that says "PENIS"! "logic", women are far more in need of most people are not so exasperating.

Up close, with a beard, sunglasses, routine prophylactic cutting. He went For the most part, American or for- dreadlocks, a towering American flag away seeming to understand, then came eign, the atmosphere does not get much hat, and a shirt with the word back later for a bit more information. If better for education. A large number of "IRCUMCISION" with a bloody C an intact man from a non-circumcising people visit the Capitol, most of whom fallen below, there is a man who stands country knows so little about his own we probably could not reach any other out even more than the word “PENIS” whole body, what about Americans way. Many are inquisitive, while others or his many signs: David Wilson. He who have been intentionally hiding find their minds provoked enough to has been demonstrating at the Capitol from the prepuce for over a century? learn more on their own. Foreigners for seventeen years in a row, dating take home a new view of the United back to before the US federal govern- States of America and the freedom for ment enacted the FGM Act into law. which our country is supposed to stand. David listens to the onlookers for a mo- Many intactivists who arrive at GIAW ment then engages them with a ques- feeling somewhat solitary go home tion: "Do you know how circumcision knowing that they are not alone and got started in the US?" Of course, most that their children are not alone in their of them have no idea, but he has an an- wholeness. There is one significant swer to his question and most of theirs. problem, however: the cause needs Some leave with a new outlook, others you. Those of us who were there are will question what they thought they too few. With more people, the demon- knew, and the rest ask David Wilson to The Americans, who make up a bit stration would have an air of legitimacy move his signs to which he replies, more than half of the tourists, run the at which nobody can scoff. Whether "No." He filed the permits for a demon- gamut from receptive to hostile. Some one stays the whole week, one day, or stration and has the right to be there, are borderline hysterical. A man, a even one hour, each demonstrator is and, besides, it is too much of a pain to teenage boy, and a younger boy begin important to keeping children whole, move those signs at the whims of so to wend their way up a walk bordering healthy, and alive. Come see our na- many; they will just have to try to the lawn. I am carrying an intactivist tion's capitol and the cherry blossom avoid photographing the signs or else sign when the man says something to festival, but please do come next year take home pictures of the Capitol with me. I tell them why we are here and the and every year until our country pro- the PENIS sign and post them on Face- teenager wants to know more, so I pre- tects all children from genital cutting. book. Free publicity fits into the intac- sent the facts about human rights and tivist budget nicely. sexual loss. The man interjects, "But

Not to be outdone, there are two we're dudes!" I express that I am uncer- GIAW, March 31, 2010 tain how being male makes up for other large signs one of which reads: By Van Lewis needless violation and permanent in- "CIRCUMCISION IS TORTURE". A Stop Infant Circumcision Society mother and daughter team bring these jury to which he responds that males signs out to this demonstration and oth- "get cool stuff". The teenager ignored The weather turned spectacularly beautiful overnight in Washington, DC ers; they are standing nearby handing him and took a pamphlet before leav- ing. and we had a full day of sunshine and out their flyers. Other demonstrators are at the top of the hill nearest to the On Tuesday afternoon, March 30, warmth on Wednesday, March 31. The Capitol where they stand at a level be- about fifteen of us gathered and wind calmed down a lot and the people came out in droves. low the visitors who frequent this area marched to the White House. A re- to rest, take photos, and see what all of markable West Virginian man stayed This was the best and most intense the signs are about. Van Lewis of NO- behind to watch the signs and gear and day of the demonstration for me. I CIRC of Florida can be found here and to continue talking with visitors. We talked with many, many people from it is amazing to hear how well he and spoke with some people along the way, many US states and foreign nations, the others engage the tourists on what many cars and buses had a clear view first at the U.S. Supreme Court, and in is for many an uncomfortable subject. of our signs, and the journey was un- the afternoon at the Capitol again.

I visit all of these places on the lawn eventful. At the White House, we When I arrived at the Supreme to see how others are doing and to keep marched on the sidewalk where we Court there were what appeared to be at my legs moving. A man asks me to ex- spoke with some more people and an least a few hundred people in line wait- plain the cause; "But isn't it cleaner?" American Muslim man tried to convert ing to go in and milling about more he asks. He is from Norway and says some of us. He said that children of generally. I carried a 4' x 4' sign: both sexes dedicate themselves to the page 13 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Newsletter Summer 2010 EQUAL JUSTICE college freshman/sophomore on leave viewpoint on male circumcision. You from undergraduate studies since June, can find the viewpoint and the press 1962, was going to teach him some hu- release attached. Would you be so kind man neuroanatomy about which he as to forward these documents to peo- knew nothing. He didn't take me up on ple who might be interested in the sub- the bet, but I told him about the recent ject?

scientific discovery of what I consider Thank you for your trouble! to be a full-blown human sense organ new to science in the early 1990s con- Best regards, tained within and encircling the inner Gert van Dijk, KNMG male foreskin, and how pitiful I thought Met vriendelijke groet, UNDER LAW? it was that I had to teach him and other Drs. Gert van Dijk StopInfantCircumcision.org US physicians, in 2010, about this as-

tounding human anatomical discovery.

“EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW” He agreed to go home and learn more Royal Dutch Medical Association is written in stone in large letters above and teach his colleagues. Takes Important Step Forward the main entrance to the US Supreme One of the great ideas that came out By Peter W. Adler, J.D., Court. of GIAW 2010 - thank you Karen Legal Analyst I also put a bumper sticker on the Glennon! [Editor: Intactivist Glennon Attorneys for the Rights of the Child will be gracing our next issue as she photo that says “CIRCUMCISION On May 27, 2010, the Royal Dutch shares her story] was to have tables KILLS” Medical Association (“RDMA”) issued next year scattered over the lawn where a policy statement strongly condemn- After the US Supreme Court secu- various aspects of the subject can be ing male circumcision (http://knmg. rity people checked me out pretty thor- discussed. Someone wanting to have a artsennet.nl). The statement urges oughly, I got down to business. An conversation about religion goes to the Dutch doctors to deter and minimize older Jewish man attacked me right off, religion table, conversations about circumcision by insistently informing with all kinds of verbal bullying and medicine are held at the medicine table, parents that it lacks medical benefits, irrationality. He sat down after a while anthropologists gravitate to the anthro- risks serious complications (including and later, about lunch time, a woman pology table, legal questions go to the full and partial penile amputation), and came out and was greeted with ap- law table, history buffs to the history plause by friends and family, including is medically unnecessary. table, activists to the political table, etc, her parents, two teen-aged sons and and intactivists with expertise or inter- The RDMA issued its policy be- others. She had apparently been argu- est in that area take charge there. To do cause of an increased recognition of the ing a case before the Supreme Court. this we'll need more intactivists in risks of circumcision and of children’s The man who had been trying to bully 2011. Please make plans to be with us rights. Its chairman explained, “The me was in this group. At one point, I in late March/early April in DC next rule is: do not operate on healthy chil- could see them all look over at me and year and let me know before then what dren." The RDMA also wanted to my sign and I saw the bully say some- table you want to wo/man! bring its policy on male genital cutting thing to them. It looked like they didn't in line with its firm opposition to fe- exactly take to my message all that male genital cutting, noting that the two Section 5: well. have many Dutch Position Statement A little later the father of a nice similarities. young family from Ohio came up to me Most im- The Royal Dutch Medical Association and started talking. He was very portantly, published an official statement oppos- friendly and he turned out to be a pedi- the Dutch ing male circumcision on May 27, atric neurologist. His attitude seemed to policy states which they forwarded to ARC on May be that circumcising is a foolish opera- that “non- 28 with two attachments (the text of the tion but that it would continue out of therapeutic statement and a press release they is- tradition. This morning I'm realizing Peter W. Adler circumcision sued regarding the statement). They that there is an enormous population of of male mi- asked that we pass the good news people who agree with us that circum- nors is a violation of children’s rights cision isn't smart and shouldn't be along to our friends and colleagues. to autonomy and physical integrity” elected, but feel that it's not all that im- Royal Dutch Medical Association view- under the Dutch Constitution. Article portant to stop it either. It strikes me as point on male circumcision 10 thereof states, “Everyone shall have odd to realize that we have a lot of the right to respect for his privacy”, work to do with people who basically Dear sir, while Article 11 provides, “Everyone agree with us! Anyhow, I bet this nice The Royal Dutch Medical Association shall have the right to inviolability of pediatric neurologist $100 that I, a yesterday published an official his person”. These rights (to be left page 14 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Newsletter Summer 2010 alone) imply a right of autonomy (i.e., Section 6: members see around them. For exam- to make one’s own decisions about AMSA Convention ple, the AMSA emphasizes universal one’s own body). To the writer’s coverage and more primary care. This knowledge, even though every national could prove beneficial for our move- American Medical Students medical association in the world with a ment. Association: 2010 Convention Report policy on circumcision calls it unneces- sary and does not recommend it, the By John Geisheker, J.D., LLM RDMA is the first to do so on constitu- Executive Director tional grounds. The Association did Doctors Opposing Circumcision not call for a ban on circumcision, fear- This is my "debriefing" report based ing that it would be driven under- on the three days I, my wife Michaelle ground, resulting in more complica- Wetteland, R.N., and Ron Dempsey, tions. In calling circumcision unconsti- M.D. spent staffing an Intact America tutional, however, the Association did booth at the convention of the Ameri- call it illegal, and Dutch doctors may can Medical Students Association be unwilling to perform the surgery (AMSA), held in Anaheim, CA, from even when fully informed parents re- March 10-14, 2010. quest it. AMSA Conference, Anaheim, CA, O d d l y , Attorneys for the Rights of the Child March 2010 commends the Dutch for strongly de- other exhibi- tors with the terring circumcision, for stating that The good news is that we were very operating on healthy children violates more expen- sive booths well-received. After many such confer- their rights, and for giving boys the ences (and I have been abused at other same protection from harm as girls. were con- strained by AMSA conferences in the past) I have The American Academy of Pediatri- grown wary of the 'love-fest-factor,' cians, in stark contrast, while the rules to John Geisheker stay within whereby our allies rush in to convey a (following its flip flop in position state- compliment to us, while our foes studi- ments covered elsewhere in this is- them, whereas we, with only a table, enjoyed ously avoid the booth and even eye sue—Editor) condemning female geni- contact. tal cutting, even a ritual nick, as harm- vague turf boundaries and seemed free ful, encourages male circumcision by to roam about into the aisle, a privilege The quality of our interested visitors we cheerfully exploited. was real enough. We encountered at telling parents that it is their decision to make for religious, cultural, cosmetic The fundamental message that cir- least 200 of the 900 students registered or personal reasons. Parents, not to cumcision inspires controversy poses for the conference, and engaged at mention doctors, have no such rights. an intellectual challenge for med stu- length with more than 75 students. This All unnecessary surgery on minors is dents, in itself, even those who chose includes those who agreed to take our unlawful. All non-therapeutic genital not to engage us. eight-question quiz on penile anatomy cutting violates child abuse statutes. and the early history of circumcision, AMSA is a mix of pre-med (college Moreover, the Supreme Court has ruled an activity I invented at the last minute undergraduates) and actual medical stu- that every person has a right under the the night before the conference began. dents, so our visitors ranged the gamut U.S. Constitution to privacy, including The quiz was not intended to be scien- from university sophomores to those bodily (and hence genital) integrity, to tific or to trip up the students, merely to about to earn an MD and become resi- liberty or autonomy, and to equal pro- provide fodder for discussion. Many of dents. They therefore spanned quite a tection of the laws. Likewise, the Inter- the male students, for example, thought range of age and maturity. Sadly, even national Bill of Rights, which every that the male glans is the seat of male those about to become doctors don’t country has adopted and agreed to en- erogenous sensation, when it clearly is know much about circumcision as they force, recognizes every person’s right not. Such is the power of myth that it learn essentially nothing in medical to personal security and freedom from erases even the evidence instantly school regarding basic foreskin anat- harm. (The International Bill of Rights available to an owner. The first 50 omy and pertinent bioethics. For virtu- refers to the Universal Declaration of quiz-takers earned a $5 Starbucks gift ally everyone, therefore all we dis- Human Rights, the International Cove- card, perhaps the best freebie at the cussed was fresh and new. The older nant on Civil and Political Rights, and conference. Others were willing to take medical students tend to be victims (or the International Covenant on Eco- the quiz even after the gift cards had beneficiaries) of circumcision as an nomic, Social, and Cultural Rights-- run out. idée fixé; on the other hand, as one Editor.) ARC encourages every medi- might expect, the undergraduates tend Notable encounters cal association worldwide to adopt the to be more malleable. I sense in the Dutch policy of strongly deterring cir- Among encounters that stuck in my AMSA agenda a restless need to create cumcision as harmful and a violation of mind were my discussion with the a different medicine than the one the the fundamental rights of the child. medical student daughter of a page 15 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Newsletter Summer 2010 physician-mohel who listened atten- more important than physicians who source of good-natured chatter of tively, disagreed politely, and defended have settled on a position and are not course, itself useful. One night we left bris only with canned enthusiasm. She about to re-examine it at our urging. about twenty on the table as a test, and seemed stunned by my polite sugges- Consider, for instance how well our only ten were there in the morning, tion that we never know what the reli- mission fits within the aims of AMSA, the others likely finding their way into gious beliefs of an eight-day old might found on a T-shirt they sell members: the pocket of a randy (or optimistic) be. She gave me my quote of the con- "Reclaiming the Ethics of Medicine" security guard. I recall one exhibitor ference when she said, "Wow, our se- "Removing Conflicts of Interest" saying, "I found one of your condoms der dinner this Passover is going to be "Restoring the Sanctity of the on a table. What does a condom have to extra interesting when I challenge my Patient/Physician relationship" do with circumcision?" (Which of dad!" (I'd like to be a fly on the wall for course for me is like putting a dollar in that one.) We could not have said it better— a jukebox.) and note that they put 'patient' in front A dual law student-medical student of physician. 6) All three of us used NOCIRC interested in bioethics and committed Executive Director Marilyn Milos' sim- to a career defending children quickly 2) Having something – anything – ple demonstration of Meissner corpus- saw our point and proved an easy con- sensible for students to do upon arrival cles by having students draw their fin- vert to the status of conscientious ob- at the booth is important. Quizzing gernail across the back of their hand, jector, one of only two we had during them makes sense; they take quizzes all and then compare that sensation with a the four days. It probably helped that the time and would not be medical stu- similar test on their palm. This is an she got her law degree before her medi- dents if they were not naturally com- amazingly quick, engaging, and memo- cal degree. petitive and proud to show what they rable way for students to learn the in- know. I think this should be a regular The new Physician-Director of the tense innervation of the foreskin. It tactic, as long as the quiz or activity is never fails to educate. Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at informational and not too demanding or Harvard-Kennedy came over to engage likely to embarrass them. Finally, I'd like to thank the staff at us and wish us well in our work. We Intact America for their work in putting took the liberty of inviting him to join 3) These students are hungry to this event together and hope that you Intact America (IA). learn. We must remember that. They will call on me and the other members are especially impressed by medical of Doctors Opposing Circumcision to Even some staff at the conference articles and published studies. Our two center, a largely Hispanic group, regu- cooperate in our common mission in best handouts were the one on normal the future. larly gave a thumbs-up when they foreskin anatomy and the one refuting walked past our booth on some errand, the three African randomized con- and we had cheery visits from other trolled trial (RCT) studies, a topic exhibitors as well. which came up constantly.

The medical students were amaz- Even the fourth-year medical stu- ingly receptive to our message. Section 7: dents admitted they were taught noth- From the Executive Director A fun detail — AMSA exhibitors ing about the innervation of the genita- are given a large packet of double raffle lia or the normal development of the tickets, which we were instructed to infant. We can help fill that void. Boyhood Studies Journal hand out to attendees coming to our 4) Considering the other costs of the booth. Every few hours the organizers Publishes Steven's Article conference, the Starbucks cards at $250 drew names for donated prizes. The total cost were the least expensive ele- Thymos: Journal of Boyhood Studies prizes were quite valuable -- iPods, ment—and the most popular with stu- has just published an article of mine iTouches, stethoscopes, medical refer- dents, who will remember us at their based on my July 13, 2007 presentation ence books, lab coats. Our booth be- Starbucks visit, and perhaps mention it to the interdisciplinary Boys and the came famous the last day when FOUR to colleagues, potentially sparking a Boy Crisis conference in Washington, of our visitors won prizes, three of discussion. We could double the num- DC. The article is titled, "Genital In- them winning two prizes each with one ber of cards next time and get good tegrity and Gender Equity" and dis- student winning three. At that point, we mileage out of it. cusses parallels and contrasts between had students coming over to rub our two important movements--the move- blue tablecloth at the "good-luck anti- 5) In addition to the Starbucks ment for genital integrity and the circumcision booth," a karmic bonus. cards, we also had condoms to give movement for genuine gender equity.

away. I would have thought the stu- The article was published in Volume 4, Here are my recommendations from dents would grab handsful and we'd be several AMSA conferences I have number 1, pages 71-77, of the Sping at pains to restrain them. But I think 2010 issue of Thymos. staffed: maybe we only gave away 150 or so, as 1) The AMSA crowd is an impor- not every student would take them, and Steven Svoboda tant constituency for our movement, most took only one. They were a Attorneys for the Rights of the Child page 16 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Newsletter Summer 2010 Executive Director’s Message supporters) for the simple reason that it sort of stipend, and 100% of all tax- is true. deductible donations go directly to de- Here we are in the middle of 2010 already, on the eve of NOCIRC’s elev- Two entertaining blogs are reprinted fraying the costs of safeguarding chil- enth symposium (and my eighth in a with permission, and the titles say it dren. Donations can be sent to J. Ste- row). I am excited that this event will all—“Feminism and Male Circumci- ven Svoboda, ARC, 2961 Ashby Ave- be held in my hometown of Berkeley, sion” and (with tongue planted firmly nue, Berkeley, CA 94707, or made at the university where I studied phys- in cheek) “The Case for Female Cir- through paypal at our website (www. ics over a quarter century ago! cumcision.” We are pleased to report arclaw.org/arc_donate) or using the paypal address [email protected]. two pieces of good news from Scandinavia--a lawsuit ordering Our next issue will be out in the Finnish parents to compensate Fall. Until then, I look forward to see- their son for a circumcision, and ing many of you at the symposium.

Swedish doctors who are refusing J. Steven Svoboda to perform circumcisions. The Executive Director health benefits of circumcision are reported to be virtually non- existent in a newspaper article we Abstract for Presentation at the are reprinting. Eleventh NOCIRC Symposium, We happily still have nothing at Berkeley , California , all to report regarding new position 9 A.M., July 30, 2010 statements from either the AAP or Tortured Doctrines, Tortured Bod- the Centers for Disease Control ies: How Legal Fictions Help Justify Steven, Sarita (5.5) and Eli (8.5) and Prevention (CDC). At this and Perpetuate Male Circumcision point, it seems certain that it is pri- and Other Inhumane Practices We hope this issue of the newsletter, marily the movement’s hard work and our 23rd in all, finds you well. It is our strenuous activism that is continuing to By J. Steven Svoboda largest, both in terms of page length delay, perhaps permanently, pro- Although the doctrine of informed and number of individual contributions. circumcision announcements from consent functions reasonably well Thanks to our numerous generous con- these organizations. within its area of applicability, it dis- tributors, we had an opportunity to ex- I am pleased to introduce experi- solves into an incoherent legal fiction plore a few timely issues in depth—the enced attorney and new ARC Legal when applied by proxy to incompetent recent flurry of statements on female Analyst Peter Adler, who hails from persons such as newborns and mentally genital cutting (FGC) by the American Massachusetts and who authored sev- incapacitated adults. Both leading ap- Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Genital eral of the pieces in this newsletter. proaches to permitting an oxymoronic Integrity Awareness Week 2010, and Welcome aboard, Peter! ARC Web- “proxy consent”--substituted judgment the hearing on the Massachusetts legis- master Rick King continues to do a fan- and best interests—cloak a usurpation lation to outlaw male and female geni- tastic job upgrading and updating our of agency that allows ostensibly hal- tal cutting. (The Massachusetts bill was website’s organization, appearance, and lowed principles of autonomy and self- eventually rejected behind closed content. Thanks to Georganne Chapin’s determination to be violated with impu- doors.) and Intact America’s help, the appear- nity. Because a court can never truly Above all else, the AAP flip-flop ance on our website of two “Know know what an idiot or a newborn involved a puzzling, even bizarre series Your Rights” brochures for potential wants, Kantian ethics and human rights of events. (In addition to several differ- litigants—a short version and a long are violated. History abounds with ex- ent perspectives on the AAP’s reversal version—is imminent. amples of tortured doctrines applied to justify human atrocities. Such legal fic- of its position, this issue’s AAP section We recently learned that the Ameri- tions conceal our violations from our- also includes our published letter to can Cancer Society has apparently re- selves and others under the pretenses of Pediatrics and our letter to the AAP tracted their previous strongly anti- legal authorization and compliance Committee that authored the position circumcision statement, and are work- with human rights, masking our failure statement.) We also look more briefly ing with colleagues to undo the to properly safeguard human dignity at the Royal Dutch Medical Associa- changes they made in their website re- and autonomy. tion’s outstanding statement opposing lating to these matters. male circumcision and the American Medical Students Association conven- Thanks so much to each of you for tion. your support, be it emotional, financial, Program: The 11th International or both. We literally could not do it Symposium on Circumcision, Geni- Continued thanks to veteran editor without you! As has always been the tal Integrity and Human Rights Al Fields. I keep saying I couldn’t do it case since we started over thirteen 29-31 July 2010, University of without him (and without our financial years ago, no one at ARC receives any California, Berkeley, California, USA page 17 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Newsletter Summer 2010

Thursday, July 29 Circumcision and Other Inhumane 9:30 – 10:00 Practices 9:00 – 10:00 NOCIRC of Arabia: A Pilot Version in J. Steven Svoboda Looking Back and Looking Forward Arabic Dean Edell and Marilyn Milos, with 9:30 – 10:00 Hatem Kamal Saied

Georganne Chapin Regulating Male Circumcision 10:00 – 10:30 in Finland 10:00 – 10:30 Reclaiming Circumcision: Heli Askola Circumcision and More Armenian Stories Clare Puskarczyk 10:00 – 10:30 Astrik Vardanyan Medical Provider’s Duty of Care 10:30 – 11:00 10:30 – 11:00 to a One-Day Old Infant Surgeries in Search of Disorders: The Quest for Blankness: Project Zenas Baer Intersex and Circumcision in MK-ULTRA and the CIA’s American History 10:30 – 11:00 Circumcision Research Elizabeth Reis The Children We Injure: The Human Frederick M. Hodges

Rights of Children vs the 11:30 – 12:00 11:30 – 12:00 Parents’ Free Exercise of Belief Genital Stretching Among the Venda Eth- Intersex Genital Autonomy: John V. Geisheker nic Group in South Africa What and Why 11:30 – 12:00 Erika Dionisio, Pia Grassivaro Gallo, Paul Mason Circumcision as an Example of Franco Viviani

12:00 – 12:30 Normative Abuse The Harmfulness of Circumcision George John W. Travis 12:00 – 12:30 C. Denniston Women from Timan Adde (Merka- 12:00 – 12:30 Somalia) Pray to Allah in Order to be 12:30 – 1:00 Human Thanatophilia: The Psycho- Freed from Pharaonic Circumcision/ The Evolution of Circumcision Cultural Processes Behind Infibulation Methods: Not “Just a Snip” Genital Mutilations of Pia Grassivaro Gallo and Hugh Young Children and Adolescents Prof. Maria Chiara Turrini 2:00 – 2:30 Moisés Tractenberg 12:30 – 1:00 Dangerous Myths and Tragic 12:30 – 1:00 Possession Ritual and Somalian Misconceptions: The Orthodox Male Circumcision and the Potential for Pharaonic Circumcision Culture Steffania View of AIDS in Africa Unexplained Male Adolescent Gazzea, Pia Grassivaro Gallo, Antonio Iaria Charles Geshekter Suicide in Northern Ireland 2:00 – 2:30 2:30 – 3:00 Linda Massie Female Genital Mutilation and the Ame- Stopping AIDS in Africa 2:00 – 2:30 lioration of Complex Trauma through Re- David Gisselquist The Circumcision Lobby lational Attunement Patricia D. Raya 3:30 – 4:00 David J. Llewellyn 2:30 – 3:00 Blogging Male Circumcision and HIV: 2:30 – 3:00 Male Circumcision Among the Addressing the Establishment How Not to Get Published: The Top Ten Venda of Limpopo (South Africa) with Social Media Pro-Circumcision Journals Erika Dionisio and Franco Viviani David Wilton Robert S. Van Howe

4:15 – 4:45 3:00 – 3:30 3:00 – 3:30 So They Claim to Know the Answer: The Circumcision: Gender and Power Penile Wounding: The Spectrum of Com- Problem of Association Taken as Causality Miriam Pollack plications of Routine Male Ken McGrath Circumcision as Seen in a Typical 3:30 – 4:00 4:45 – 5:15 Defying the Enlightenment: Jewish American Family Medical Practice Ten Years of Training: My Experiences Christopher Fletcher Ethnicity and Ethnic Circumcision as Residency Faculty Leonard B. Glick 3:30 – 4:00 Michelle Storms Full-time vs Part-time 4:15 – 5:15 5:15 – 5:45 Policy Discussion: Presenting Our Posi- Foreskin Restoration Video Intactivism Ron Low tion to Jewish Americans James Loewen Leonard B. Glick and Mark D. Reiss 4:15 – 4:45

7:30 – 9:30 6:30 – 9:30 Healing the Harms of Circumcision: A Brainstorming Session for Standing Up for the Rights of Children Case Study Health Professionals B. Maurene White Soraya Mire Gillian Longley, Dolores Sanguiliano, and 4:45 – 5:15 Michelle R. Storms Saturday, July 31 Status Report from Intact America Geor- ganne Chapin Friday, July 30 9:00 – 9:30 Ka-Priests and the Mastaba of Ankhma- 5:15 – 5:45 9:00 – 9:30 hor: Setting the Record Straight about Genital Autonomy: Tortured Doctrines, Tortured Bodies: How Ancient Egyptian Phallic Rituals A New Approach Legal Fictions Help Justify and Perpetuate Frederick M. Hodges page 18 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Newsletter Summer 2010

Section 8: circumcision in preventing new HIV Jewish Congregation in the spring of News Items and Blogs infections, said Dan Bollinger, director 2008. During the procedure the male of the international group. child was held by his grandfather. The child’s parents were also present. The $10M for circum-slicing parents did not think the rabbi had used By Joseph Goldstein any form of anaesthesia to numb the Doctors Refuse to Perform New York Post pain. Circumcisions www.nypost.com The child was hospitalised when he July 18, 2010 April 29, 2010 would not stop bleeding. On the morn- www.thelocal.se It was the unkindest cut of all. ing following the operation the rabbi

A Brooklyn federal judge has Doctors in western Sweden are re- had examined the child. The rabbi had awarded $10 million to the victim of a fusing to carry out the circumcision of noticed the bleeding but he had assured boys, despite clearance by elected offi- the parents that all was well. circumcision gone horribly wrong. cials to carry out the procedure for non- According to specialist doctor Harry The money is to be paid by the medical reasons. maker of the Mogen clamp, a forceps- Lindahl, who was heard as an expert like device commonly used in circum- The Västra Götaland region is witness, complications could have been cisions and shown in a medical journal obliged to procure healthcare for at avoided if the procedure had been per- to have been involved in other partial least 300 operations each year among formed in a hospital setting. Jewish and Muslim families, according amputations. According to the parents, the rabbi to the Göteborgs-Posten (GP) local who performed the operation was repu- Given that record, Magistrate Judge daily. Marilyn Go found that a warning table. The parents pleaded that circum- should have been included with each "Now we have to go out and find cision is a religious obligation that is device. Instead, the instruction someone who is willing to perform the not prohibited by law. operations. The doctors' sector council manual promised a risk-free procedure. The prosecution pressed charges of (Sektorsrådet) have said no to these aggravated assault or alternatively in- procedures. We respect the doctors' citement to aggravated assault. Circumcision Campaigns are position," said Lars-Göran Moberg, Rolling Out in Africa to head of the region's healthcare commit- In the District Court’s view, how- tee to GP. ever, the parents could only be accused Prevent HIV Infections of incitement to assault, as they did not Paediatric surgeon John Westfelt By Thomas H. Maugh II take part in performing the actual op- can see no possibility for doctors Los Angeles Times eration and the used instrument could within the public healthcare system to www.latimes.com not be regarded as a weapon defined by perform the operations. July 20, 2010 the Penal Code. "We have de-prioritized several (We have deleted seven paragraphs Both of the parents were sentenced other measures to help sick children, generally praising the recently com- to 40 days of public service. They were such as surgery on tight foreskins for pleted International AIDS Conference also ordered to pay their son EUR medical reasons. And obviously we can in Vienna--to be covered in our next 1,500 in compensation for pain and suf- not carry out these operations without issue--and the pro-circumcision, anti- fering. intact agenda.) sacrificing something else." In its ruling the District Court ap- Not everyone thinks that circumci- plied the Supreme Court precedent, ac- sion is a good idea, however. The cording to which a circumcision per- groups Intact America and the Interna- Parents Fined for Having Son formed on a four-year-old Muslim boy tional Coalition for Genital Integrity Circumcised—Operating Rabbi Did was not illegal. urged a halt to the procedures at the Not Anaesthetize Child Vienna meeting, calling the plans In that case, however, the operation Helginsin Sanomat "exorbitant, dangerous and unethical." was performed by a medical doctor and June 11, 2010 The groups argue that many recipients the child had been anaesthetised, unlike www.hs.fi in the case determined by the District think they no longer need to use con- Court. doms, which actually increases the A mother and father in Helsinki spread of HIV. have been sentenced to a fine by the During the investigation into the Helsinki District Court for having had They also cite a high rate of compli- case, efforts were made to get in touch their baby boy circumcised. with the rabbi, who had performed the cations from the procedures — as high as 18% under clinical conditions and The parents hired a rabbi from Great operation. These efforts, which ex- up to 35% for traditional circumcisions. Britain to perform the procedure. The tended beyond the boundaries of Increased promotion of condoms is 95 rabbi circumcised the one-week-old Finland, proved unsuccessful, however. times more cost-effective than male boy in the premises of Helsinki’s page 19 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Newsletter Summer 2010 No Reason for Ultimate masturbation. cost of around $200. The big question Unkindly Cut is, Why? Kellogg wrote, "The operation By Kevin Brooker should be performed by a surgeon Calgary Herald without administering an anesthetic, as Somehow, observers in other, more ob- www.calgaryherald.com the brief pain attending the operation jective countries stubbornly refuse to March 29, 2010 will have a salutary effect upon the acknowledge all the supposedly mi- mind, especially if it be connected with As news stories go, this one was raculous benefits of circumcision. the idea of punishment, as it may well especially hard to digest. Last week, an Thanks to Margaret Somerville for be in some cases. The soreness which unidentified B.C. man was sentenced to calling our attention to this article. a year in jail for having performed continues for several weeks interrupts Steven Svoboda - -- and botched -- a circumcision on the practice, and if it had not previously become too firmly fixed, it Attorneys for the Rights of the Child his four-year-old son. may be forgotten and not resumed." Circumcision Health Benefit The details of the event were deeply For the record, and for similar rea- Virtually Nil, Study Finds disturbing. In an operation undertaken for religious reasons, the man first fed sons, he also advised the application of By Andre Picard the child honey wine, then went at carbolic acid to female genitalia. It's [Toronto] Globe and Mail his foreskin with a razor blade. When interesting to note that in 1949, January 12, 2010 Britain's National Health Service re- the bleeding wouldn't stop, the father http://www.theglobeandmail.com applied something called Wonder Dust, moved circumcision from its schedule While it is the most common surgi- an ash-like substance intended for of coverage. Thereafter, the procedure cal procedure in the world, there is vir- racehorse injuries. More bizarre still, it remained available, but only for pay. tually no demonstrable health benefit came out at trial that the man On this side of the pond, however, derived from circumcision of either had previously attempted the same op- butchery remained popular. Those of us newborns or adults, a new study con- eration on himself, and he botched that born in the 1950s didn't stand a chance. cludes. Once, in a jovial way, I asked my sweet one too. The sole exception seems to be us- As depraved as all of this seems, mother how she could have consented to such a barbaric practice. But all she ing circumcision to reduce the risk of there is a deeper subtext for many transmission of HIV-AIDS in adult observers: Who, in this day and age, is could offer was, "I don't remember the subject ever coming up." males in sub-Saharan Africa, though it still of the belief that it is a is unlikely that benefit carries over to good idea to circumcise anyone? To When a friend of similar vintage other parts of the world where rates of say that the unkindest cut has a com- was about to have a son of his own, HIV-AIDS are much lower. plex history would be the understate- there was, thankfully, a full discussion. ment of all time. Anthropologists are While neither parent was a fan, mom The research, published in Tues- unsure exactly how the practice arose. remained on the fence. "How's he go- day’s edition of the Annals of Family At one time or another, it has acted as a ing to feel," she asked, "when he starts Medicine, shows that, despite claims, tribal marker, rite of manhood, disease wondering why he doesn't look like there is little evidence that circumcision prevention and even a humiliating daddy?" can prevent sexually transmitted infec- tions, urinary tract infections and penile punishment. As a commandment of "Well, he's probably not going to God in the Abrahamic tradition, cir- cancer. have my big schnozz, either," said my cumcision has been a part of Judaism adamant friend. "He'll get over it." There are also risks to the surgery and Islam for centuries. that, while rare, range from sexual dis- Still, and inexplicably, Albertans But the procedure only took off in satisfaction through to penile loss. haven't. Although the Canadian Paedi- English-speaking countries around atric Society first declared in 1975 that “Patients who request circumcision 1900. In the wake of the discovery of there is no medical necessity for in the belief that it bestows clinical germs, Victorian science developed a neonatal circumcision — indeed, that benefits must be made aware of the mania for rooting out the unclean. And any benefits are outweighed by harms lack of consensus and robust evidence, what better place than the penis for — this province leads the nation in as well as the potential medical and finding that? psychosocial harms of the procedure,” foisting it upon infants. According to The attitude was summed up in the a 2006 study by the Public Health said Guy Maddern, of the department work of U.S. health crusader John Har- Agency of Canada, that rate was 44.3 of surgery at The Queen Elizabeth Hos- vey Kellogg, who otherwise champi- percent, versus a national average of pital in Adelaide, Australia, and lead author of the study. oned bland diets for which he invented 31.9.

Corn Flakes as the stable foundation. A nurse from one of Calgary's neo- In newborns, he said, the surgery is Kellogg took an enthusiastically puni- natal wards explains that parents who “inappropriate” because it offers no tive attitude toward circumcision, be- ask about the procedure are given a list therapeutic benefit. lieving that it was the preferred method of doctors who will perform it at a About one-third of males worldwide for combating the e vils of page 20 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Newsletter Summer 2010 undergo circumcision, the surgical re- Study: Adult Circumcision some religious traditions, but also ex- moval of the prepuce (or foreskin). Minimally Effective at Controlling coriated by some political groups. One U.S. HIV Transmission anti-circumcision group, Intact Amer- The procedure is done principally for religious, cultural and social rea- By Kilian Melloy ica, views the procedure as a violation: sons. EDGEBoston "It’s removing healthy, functioning, www.edgeboston.com sexual and protective tissue from a per- Religious male circumcision is prac- son who cannot consent. You’re muti- tised under both Jewish and Islamic July 22, 2010 Reprinted with Permission lating a child," Intact America’s execu- law, and it is an integral part of some tive director, Georgeanne Chapin, told aboriginal and African cultural prac- Circumcision would not signifi- the AP. tices. cantly reduce the spread of HIV in the United States, a new study suggests. Last year, the CDC floated the con- The main social reasons the practice troversial idea of recommending cir- has continued is a widespread desire The study, carried out in San Fran- cumcision as a standard part of neona- that boys resemble their fathers, and a cisco, indicated that circumcision as a tal care as part of an effort to combat belief that boys who undergo circumci- tactic for reducing HIV transmission HIV in the United States. The proposal sion have fewer health problems. would only be minimally effective, re- anticipated that the next generation will

The new study, a systematic review ported an article posted at Scientific include more uncircumcised males than Computing. the current generation. Moreover, more (a compilation and analysis of previ- ously published research), looked only Although studies in Africa have in- Hispanics and African Americans are at the latter point. dicated that circumcision might help choosing not to have their make babies reduce the spread of HIV in straight circumcised; studies indicate that those Dr. Maddern and his research team populations are harder hit by HIV and found no evidence that uncircumcised men by removing foreskin cells that are vulnerable to the virus, the new study-- AIDS than are Caucasians. Worldwide, men have higher rates of penile cancer. only about 30% of all men are circum- In fact, they noted penile cancer is ex- which focuses on gay American men-- does not arrive at the same conclusion, cised. tremely rare and seemingly unrelated to the presence of a prepuce. in part because circumcision is already Although circumcision is common- so prevalent in the U.S. Moreover, only place in some parts of Africa, it is often The belief that urinary tract infec- a very small minority of men surveyed not conducted until adulthood. A June tions are more common in uncircum- for the study said that they would un- 30 AP article reported that the tradi- cised males is not backed up by re- dergo circumcision even if it were tional circumcision rite, which is not search. Dr. Maddern noted the fewer proven to reduce their risk of contract- typically performed by physicians or than 2 per cent of boys suffer urinary ing HIV. carried out in a sterile environment, can tract infections which “makes it "Our study indicates that any poten- result in potentially fatal infections. unlikely that preventive circumcision of normal boys would outweigh the tial benefit may likely be too small to Elsewhere in Africa, circumcision is adverse events associated with the pro- justify implementing circumcision pro- not so commonplace, partly because cedure.” grams as an intervention for HIV pre- there are too few qualified medical pro- vention," said Chongyi Wei, a post-doc fessionals to carry out the procedure. Finally, there was no evidence at all with University of Pittsburgh Graduate However, a new medical device, called that there are fewer sexually- School of Public Health, which carried a ShangRing, simplifies the procedure transmitted infections among circum- out the study, and an author of the pa- and reduces discomfort and pain to a cised males. The exception was a study per on the results, which was presented minimum, the AP reported last Feb. 16. in sub-Saharan Africa that showed do- at this week’s International AIDS Con- Use of the ShangRing reportedly in- ing the surgery on adult males reduced ference in Vienna. volves a much lower incidence of in- their risk of contracting HIV-AIDS. (However, rates of HIV-AIDS were not Previous studies have also indicated reduced in their female partners.) that gay men do not benefit from cir- cumcision the way heterosexuals seem Rather, Dr. Maddern said, the pre- to when it comes to HIV transmission. puce seems to act as a barrier against One study by the U.S. Centers of Dis- contamination and, by helping maintain ease Control and Prevention showed a moist environment, enhance sexual that circumcision seemed to make no pleasure. difference in HIV transmission rates

According to the study, the only when it came to anal sex, an AP story medical justification for circumcision is from Aug. 26, 2009 reported. to treat boys or men with penile abnor- That article also noted that circum- malities. cision is more than a medical proce- dure, freighted with religious, political, and social significance. It is part of GIAW 2010 page 21 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Newsletter Summer 2010 looking and cleaner it would be too. Seriously now, NONE of the above They could both enjoy oral sex without reasons would be good enough for a all the gunk that gets caught in the parent to allow a knife to be taken to folds! Girls can get pretty smelly down their daughter's genitals in ANY way. there too, so why not help out with Why are these same excuses allowed to that? pass as justification of male circumci-

A lot of parents worry about their sion? As far as we have supposedly sons looking different in the locker come in this society, why is this sexism rooms, or different from their fathers. and mutilation still tolerated? Why What if my daughter's labia is different aren't more women going all mama than her friends or mine? That would bear on people's asses for this?! Why be traumatizing to a girl too, I don't aren't more men standing up and de- want her to be freaked out and made manding the rights and protection they fun of! If we get all women and girls and their sons deserve?! The public circumcised, then we can all look the would be in an absolute uproar if a par- same and not worry about it anymore. ent wanted to so much as put a paper cut in their daughter's pants! Why do AIDS and cancer are so prevalent baby boys have less rights? Why are these days, we really need to protect they considered to be lesser beings? our kids in every way that we can. Re- There should be NO gender specifica- GIAW, 2010 moving extra skin on a boy helps these tion on genital mutilation. Either it is things, so why not try the same for wrong for ALL people, or it is okay for girls! Why would it work for one and all people (and God help us if you The Case for Female Circumcision not the other? It would be SO worth it. agree with the latter). If a girl grows up www.womanuncensored.blogspot.com You can't get cancer on a part of the and wants to have her genitals cosmeti- February 22, 2010 body you don't have! cally altered, it can be her choice then,

Reprinted with Permission in adulthood, when she can make an My husband was with a woman I'm warning you now, if you com- once who had long inner labia, and he informed decision for herself. A parent ment on this post before reading the said it was SO gross looking and smell- shouldn't have the right to make that WHOLE thing, you WILL look like an ing, and she got infections all the time. choice for her, something that can't be ass. Just sayin'. I would hate for my daughters to grow undone, and the same should be true up and experience that embarrassment. for boys. People have so many compelling I would be doing them SUCH a favor arguments for male circumcision, that I You can say the penis is "dirty". I by doing it now when they can't feel it, can't help but wonder why girls can't say if that is true, then the vulva is far rather than them having all this trouble enjoy the same benefits! I'm not talking more so, but we don't go cutting those later in life and having to get trimmed! about sewing up the vagina or remov- up. Shall we remove the anus too? That My girls would really hate me if the ing the clitoris or anything, but a little sure is dirty! knew I could have prevented such a snip-snip could surely tidy things up! If thing, and didn't take the chance. I You say the foreskin may become removing the foreskin of a boy helps know my girls would really thank me diseased or infected, so it should be keep his penis cleaner, then taking out for making their lives so much easier, removed. Let's apply this "logic" to the inner labia and clitoral hood could and giving them a nice clean look down other parts of the body. Shall we re- really do the same for girls! Girls have there too. move all girl's breasts because they so much more to wash than boys do MIGHT have a problem? Shall we pull anyway, and we get way more infec- There are so many benefits for cir- all teeth because they might get cavi- tions. If less skin on a boy equals less cumcision, why shouldn't it be the same ties? Our skin can get cancer, better do infections, then it must work for girls for girls too? Why are they left out? away with that! Oh, and heart disease, too! Those little bits of skin don't have Boys and girls should be equal. I am take that thing right out! Dang ears and much feeling anyway. It would make the parent, and if I think it would be all those infections, just get rid of them. diaper changes and baths so much eas- good for my child, I should have the ANY part of the human body can have ier. So much less space to get all gooey right to do it! People might judge me, a problem, but we don't go removing and dirty, now and for the rest of her but so what? If I'm doing what is best them when they are perfectly fine. IF a life. for my kids, then other people can just problem arises, we treat it then, and we

screw off! treat it reasonably. Amputation is a last People see all that extra skin on a boy's penis, and say it looks gross. Well Why didn't anyone think of this be- resort when all else has failed. If we why don't girls get to have their extra fore?! I am a mutha effin GENIUS!!! removed at birth every part of the body skin tidied up?! Surely it would look NOT. You didn't think I was that big of that might have an issue at some point much better, and I bet her future hus- a dunce did you? in one's life, we would have no baby band would appreciate how much nicer left. page 22 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Newsletter Summer 2010

You say an intact penis is ugly. I say nights while he'd have permanently you're a pervert for looking at your per- changed genitals the rest of his life. fect little son that way, and having such Something he had absolutely NO say in. a strong reaction that you'd want to hack him up just to please yourself. When I joined Facebook, I also And once again, if a parent found their joined something called "circle of girl's genitals so ugly that they wanted moms" and circumcision is a hot topic to have them cut, they'd be thrown in today. One mom actually posted a prison, so it shouldn't be okay for a par- video of a newborn being circumcised ent to do to their son. and contrary to what many people be-

You say it might prevent STDs. I lieve it’s routine to NOT give any pain say that is what condoms and responsi- relief. This baby gave a scream that ble sex are for, and we wouldn't cut made me cry. The video is about 5 min- girls to reduce their risk. We'd tell them utes worth of cutting, pinching and to be smart about choosing partners and tearing at his penis and foreskin which protection. Boys are just as capable of obviously has a motherload of nerve those things. endings because the child is shaking and screaming in pain. That video and You may have a ton of other reasons the comment of some of the mothers for cutting a boy, but none of them GIAW, 2010 who say circumcision is best because would hold water if the child in ques- girls preferred circumcised penises and tion were a girl, so that would either other boys will tease him reminds me make you a raging sexist, or a moron. Feminism and Male Circumcision of a video I watched in college that said Perhaps both. the SAME thing about female genital www.feministing.com If you've just never THOUGHT June 4, 2010 mutilation. about circumcision, I encourage you to. Reprinted with Permission What if we saw a video of a little Many people are still uneducated about I recently had a baby boy (my sec- girl's clitoral hood being removed with- the realities of male genital mutilation ond) and of course the topic of circum- out pain relief that took 5 minutes. masquerading as a "simple and benefi- cision came up. I educated myself on What if we were told by her parents cial medical procedure". I ask you to circumcision and how it is totally medi- that it’s better to do this because it’s open your mind to learning and consid- cally unnecessary to circumcise a cleaner (as if washing it isn't good ering that what you may think you healthy baby's penis and felt that doing enough) it looks better (as if her geni- know now could be mythical. More and so would pretty much amount to muti- tals in its natural form are ugly and more parents are becoming educated, lating him for no other reason than be- need to be cut away to be more pleas- and circumcision rates have plummeted cause everybody else is doing it too. ing) and that she's too young to ever to 50% nationwide (USA), and they Unfortunately when I made up my remember the pain so why waste continue to drop! You can find out mind about it, it was already too late. money on pain relief (as if her pain is what they know that you may not. He was getting circumcised at that doc- somehow negligible because it’s such a Learn before you decide. You son will tor's appointment. wonderful trade-off that she is forced to THANK you someday. conform.)

My husband reported that our son As for female circumcision vs. seemed fine — that although we were I am now firmly on the side against male, YES they are comparable. Some told they wouldn't use pain relief he circumcision and only wish I had actu- forms are extreme, but they were not believes they did because he seems a- ally looked deeper into this before my discussed here. Other forms are equal ok. That was until the first diaper sons were circumcised. I honestly went or even less severe than male circumci- change and every diaper change after along with the crowd on it and thought sion. Regardless of severity, they are that for the next four days when my it was just one of things you do to your ALL wrong, female AND male. No baby would shake and scream in pain. sons, get them circumcised. need to even specify a gender. Genital Fast forward to three weeks later and mutilation is genital mutilation. If one of our rallying cries is bodily he needs to be re-circumcised, the first autonomy and we'd raise all hell when circumcision actually made it medi- AAP briefly decided to allow "nicking" cally necessary to circumcise him- of female newborn genitals, does being Our next newsletter will include again. I felt awful. We had no way of against male circumcision become a an overview of the Berkeley knowing how this child would feel feminist issue on the grounds of bodily International Symposium and a about some of his most private parts autonomy or is it the universal right of fascinating, candid article by being sliced and diced all in the name a parent to SONS to do with their Daniel Miller entitled, of conformity — something we as his child's genitals as they please? “My Circumcision Story.” parents would have to deal with for several diaper changes and cranky