Male Circumcision??

My son was circumcised for religious reasons. I saw it performed, and it took a matter of seconds, with no obvious residual pain. A local anesthetic spray was used.

From what I can gather, most of the health benefits of circumcision apply mostly in Third World countries, in which for example safe water for cleaning may be lacking. In more developed nations, similar health effects can be gained by simple cleaning measures. At the same time, the medical evidence either way is still inconclusive enough that I believe parents ought to have a choice in the matter.

This is very different from female genital modification, which as far as I can make out always involves permanent desensitization of the clitoris. The more extreme forms also create huge problems in both sex and childbirth.

(cont.)

The proposed legislation does not include any exception for religious circumcision. In my mind, legislation that makes a religious practice illegal should be passed only when there is substantial evidence that the practice causes more harm than good. I do not believe there is currently such evidence in the case of male circumcision.

My opinion, but circumcision in this country is so prevalent because of Insurance Companies. I did a ton of research and it all started back in the late 1800's as a deterrent for masturbation. Yep, Dr Kellog (the cornflake dude) was a huge proponent. Most developed countries have long since stopped the practice, not because of any reason other than it wasn't medically necessary and unlike America, the government provided healthcare and didn't want to spend money on something they considered cosmetic (for example - England, Canada, Australia etc.).

2d bride is correct, the health risks of uncircumsized penises is over inflated. I come from a country where circumcized penises are the minority. Out of all my male family members, friends, my ex husband - I have never heard of any one of them having an issue keeping it clean. I think it is still the norm because of how it looks & fear of statistics that are not true re: health reasons. This does not apply if it's for religious reason

WOW. Let me just say that i LOVE debates, and this one in particular!! Love all of your opinions (even though i dissagree with a majority of you).

In writing for this paper that I am doing I have come accross a lot of research. When the ban was first presented to me I reacted in the same way that a lot of you did "The Gov is going to tell people how to raise their kids???!!! what the hell??!!". Then I started to REALLY think about it and how I personally felt about it. In my opinion (and this is no way makes me right) i agree with a ban on circumcision on children under the age of 10, not all the way up to 18. I am an early childhood studies major so i have taken a lot of classes on childs development both mentally and physically and i feel a personal responsibility to stand up for the rights of children. There have been studies aruging both sides of the coin and i beilive not having it done is a better choice than gettting it done. cont...

I do not subscribe to any particular religion but have my own personal faith and relationship with god. That being said , and i know a lot of you will disagree, i do not think religion is a choice for parents to make for their children, i think it is a personal choice a child or adult makes for themselves. you cannot tell someone what to belive, only give them the recourses to make their own informed decision. ALSO-taking your kids to church is one thing but physically altering their appearence for a religion they may not subscribe to is a completely other thing.

Cleanliness-there have been studies to show both that it helps and doesnt help to be circumcised. It is all about teaching your kids how to be clean. A guy i dated was not circucised and he never had a single issue with it because he knows how to take care of it. us girls have so much femine things we take care of i think guys can handle this one thing.

cont...

(Sorry this is three posts!!)

There have also been studies to show that surgery in infancy can affect the childs phyche later in life because they are unable to understand that is going on when they are infants. so although they do not remember it, the memory of the expeireice is locked in their mind. also, you never know how your child is going to react to the expeirence, or the medication that is administered (Some doctors do not administer pain meds other do it just depends) until during/after the preciedure.

It is my personal opionion that is simply is not worth the risk to take away a choice from your (who once will be an aduly capapable of making this choice on their own)child, and to mutalate them in such a personal way unless there is not a SERIOUS MEDICAL REASON TO DO SO.

Im done lol

The fact is the ban is not about childrens' rights or whether it is "right or wrong" -- it is clearly a stab at religion as it the guy who created this ban thing also decided to create the comic books I previously posted about. How Foreskin Man (super hero) saves babies from the evil Rabbi and etc.

Regardless though, everyone is entitled to their own opinions. You have your opinions and I have mine and every other bride (and groom) who chimed in on this topic has their own...

I also disagree with your whole "the memory of the experience is locked in their mind" and what not.

How are they getting traumatized by this? They don't feel anything - atleast my son didn't. There was different ways to get this done. My son was given something from the pain and then they cut the foreskin. It was done very quickly and he was given back to me perfectly fine. He had felt nothing. ANOTHER WAY is the way my nephew had his done -- they placed a ring around it and within weeks, both the ring and the skin just fell off. My nephew did not receive any sort of medication and was in absolutely no pain what-so-ever during and after this.

I just can't seem to understand how they be so dramatic for a child who won't remember it (but still lock it into their mind) when it's not painful for them and is done quickly.

Also, I was reading this topic to my FH and I guess the first time I missed this statement, but my FH caught it.... "I am an early childhood studies major so i have taken a lot of classes on childs development both mentally and physically and i feel a personal responsibility to stand up for the rights of children."

--- You may not have meant for it to sound this way, but it seriously sounds like you are saying because you are a "major in early childhood" that you know what is better and right for a child and what not than his/her own parents aka the ladies here that are mothers and had this done.

@Kristina B-First, i do not approve of the SF Ban, there are A LOT of things wrong with it, what i do not agree with is making (what i feel like is) such a big decision for your child if the choice does not medically need to be made.

Second-Pain is not the only traumatic thing about about the process. And every hospital does things differently, and like i said previously, you never know how your child is going to react to the whole experience. I have a lot of friends who have had boys recently (6 all together) and 5 of them had their sons circumcised and 3 of those 5 had negative experiences. It all depends on who you talk to and what hospital you go to. i am SO glad that your son and nephew had a good experience. but that is only ONE of my issues with it (That being the pain, and mental effects) but my MAIN point is the first one i made, that i dont think this desicion should be made by the parents if it is not medically neccissary, and i think that because of the reasons above

Third- I am not a mother (Although i cant wait to be one) and i would never make that kind of negative judgement on someone elses parenting. i did not mean what you and your FH took from that statement i mostly was just trying to say that i have learned a lot about it in school, and that has shaped the opinion i have. that in no way means i know more than other mothers who chose to have it done or that i would be a better mother because i wouldn't have it done to my son. i think my opinion is right just like you think yours is and i would never tell someone their opinion is wrong. Also when i said i feel like i have to stand up for the rights of children i do, and with this whole thing i feel like children's rights are being violated but that is MY OPINION, im not trying to say that IM RIGHT.

Hope that makes sense, and im trying my best not to offend anyone because that was not at all my intention with this post.

Very well said Sharon & Heather!!!

The whole "look like dad/sibling/friends/etc. is a horrible excuse.

It's completely invalid.

America cares more about making money than the well being of children.

They push circumcision and c-sections for their own gain

My son is circumsized (sp?) and he did not even cry. A topical spray was used and that was it. The whole procedure took less than 5 mins. I believe he was more traumatized by having an iv placed in his hand this weekend in the ER for dehydration due to pneumonia. Our choice to circumsize was not a religious in nature but what we felt was best for our son long term. I don't believe the government should have the ability to ban circumsizion.

Sorry about all the bad sp errors. My brain is tired. It has been a long day. Not to mention I just watched the Cubs beat the Brewers.

@Jenifer H-dont worry about spelling im horrible too lol The internet browser i have has spell ck so everything is underlined that needs to be fixed

@FMW BatLlama-I agree with you, i meant to say that earlier (bc we are obviously out numbered and need to stick together lol) but got caught up in my crazy rants

I for one think it's a good thing. We don't circumcise girls so why do we do it to boys? I also think it invades personal space. I mean, how would you like it if someone decided that you were to be circumcised and you had no say?

However, I think the ballot is going a little too far in not recognizing faith tradition such as the Jewish. They have the bris on the 8th day or something like that.

Another thing is, how are they going to enforce this? Check every boy's diaper and be sure he's intact?

It will be an interesting thing to see passed and enforced. I am going to have a son in August (sheesh! time flew!) and my husband and I decided we were not going to circumcise because a-it's our son's body and something for him to decide. b-circumcision is purely cosmetic. It has no value except in rare cases where it's needed. c-(again) we wouldn't do it to our daughter so why do it to our son?

@Jayden's Mom-Love the name Jayden btw. I agree with you. it should be the childs decision when they are older. i have a lot of concerns with the ban as well, mainly i think children can make that choice at the age of 10 so it shouldn't be banned all the way to 18. as far as the religion argument goes, i dont think there should be an exception for religious purposes for a number of personal reasons.

Im not sure im reading this right but they are banning it?

i had a boy and i got that little thing off. its a pain just cleaning what he has left i dated guys who hadnt had it done and its not for me.. or anyone i know...

i think it would be worse if they wanted it off when they are older

Also, the skin is not supposed to be retracted until 11ish, so there is no "extra cleaning".

I prefer the look of circumcised because that's more common to me, however I also like broad shoulders and green eyes. But I won't go plucking out my kids eyeballs!

If my parents had my clitoris removed, I wouldn't miss it because I never knew about it. But that isn't their decision to make! My vagina!!

I'm so glad I never had a son to where I had to make the decision for him. My DH is not circumsized and when we started dating, I asked a friend about it as I had never been with a man who wasn't before. She said that they are much dirtier and can cause infections in women frequently. Here I am years later and never had an infection nor any other problems and he would tell you that he would never think about having it done and would never change a thing. I think banning it is absolutely wrong. It is the parent's decision that they are making for their son and if they decide to get it done or wait for the child to make their own decision, the state should have nothing to do with it.

You could also arugue that child abuse as a form of punishment that is considered a parenting style and the government has told those parents that abuse is illegal. if you are going to say the government can not interfere in parenting than child abuse would be legal.