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Can You Believe San Francisco Might Ban Male…

Can You Believe San Francisco Might Ban Male Circumcision?

Tue, November 16, 2010 9:30am EDT by Hollywood Life Staff 27 Comments

First the city of San Francisco banned McDonald’s from putting toys in their Happy Meals and now there’s a proposed ban on male circumcision! Is that crazy?

Baby boys born in San Francisco may be spared the scalpel, if one man gets his way. San Fran resident Lloyd Schofield has proposed an ordinance that would make it illegal to circumcise males under the age of 18!

Sandra Bullock opens up about her son’s circumcision

If any parent decides to tamper with their baby boy’s foreskin, they face a $1,000 fine and up to one year in jail, reports the San Francisco Examiner! If this ordinance passes, the police code would be amended “to make it a misdemeanor to circumcise, excise, cut or mutilate the foreskin, testicle or penis of another person who has not attained the age of 18.”

NYC artist shows that Happy Meals don’t decay

Rest assured HollyMoms that there’s a good chance this ordinance won’t even make it on to the November 2011 ballot. It needs 7,168 valid signatures on a petition by April 26 of next year in order to appear on the ballot. We’re curious, where do you stand on the circumcision debate?

–Amy L. Harper

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This is a personal decision. Only the person who OWNS the organ should decide whether it should be removed or modified.

Amputation or partial amputation is a last resort in medicine, not a prophylactic. How this simple rule managed to bypass the practise of routine infant cutting is beyond me.

A LARGE number of physicians will not subject their own children to this procedure, they know it is unnecessary and risky at best. Yet many parents are not advised by their dr of the risks or downsides to it. Nor are they told just how much money the surgeon earns by doing circs, or that their son’s prepuce could well be SOLD and used in research. It’s a very lucrative business, and THAT is the only reason it continues…. Nothing to do with the health or wellbeing of babies, boys or men.

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Circumcision is not only mutilation; it’s also child torture, extreme child abuse and disgusting human vivisection. This crime should have been outlawed already 6,000 years ago. Bravo San Franciscans for being among the first ones to take action to also protect our boys from this bloody and painful human rights violation. May this enlightenment shine all over the world so other countries that still are deceived by this ancient evil will wake up and follow your example! Thank you Lloyd and the immensely growing number of Intactivists in this world that work so hard on waking up the blinded. We will not rest until all children, boys and girls, will be protected all over the world. May all children be entitled to keep their genitals intact so they can grow into a world with love and peace instead of being taught fear and sexual violence from the beginning! May all people deceivers that preached, promoted and committed this disgusting crime lay down there knives and torture clamps now before our outrage and anger against them will escalate into unforeseen dimensions!

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It is so unnecesary! The baby feels pain and is forever traumatized by it, even if they dont realize WHY they are traumatized! Its not something Drs recommend, nor the AAP. DoctorsOpposingCircumcision.org is also a great resource. The US, along with Africa, are about the ONLY countries IN THE WORLD who cir’c our babies. The rest of the world doesnt have half the diseases as wide spread we do. The forskin is there for a reason. It is there to protect, to shield from infection. At the VERY least, leave it up to the owner of the penis, the boy himSELF!

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Parents don’t ordinarily allow strangers to interfere with their children’s sex organs.

Parents don’t ordinarilly allow strangers to slice healthy living flesh from their children’s bodies.

Odd some parents will allow a stranger to to BOTH these things to their children – - and even PAY them to do it!

Bizarre…

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Yes, it’s absolutely mutilation. There is NO PURPOSE for it. Same as female gm.

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Circumcision is genital mutilation. It has no proven health benefits and not a single medical academy in the world recommends it. Freedom of religion doesn’t grant you the right to harm another individual, and holding a baby down and painfully excising part of his body is most certainly a harm.

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Ban it, immediately. Sexual mutilation is a crime. It makes no sense to classify genital cutting by GENDER instead of SEVERITY. Male genital mutilation and female genital mutilation are the same damn thing if you bother looking into the facts. Male circumcision can be deadly, and in 100% of cases removes the most sensitive part of a man’s penis. I support the San Francisco ban and hope the country and the world follow suit.

~Barefoot Intactivist

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So hoping this ban goes forward and the rest of the country follows suit.

Female genital mutilation was made illegal in this country and so should male genital mutilation.

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Search The Whole Network and Intact America and Circumstitions circumcision is genital mutilation.

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Drop-side cribs are recalled and companies go out of business because around 30 kids have died from it. Over one hundred infant boys die A YEAR from circumcision. What is wrong with this picture?

It is not my right, nor any other parent’s right, to make the lifelong decision to permanently alter a child’s body. 70,000 nerves exist in the foreskin – a significant amount of feeling. This is unacceptable. It is my son’s body, and it’s his right to make changes to it as he sees fit. It is not my decision, nor yours.

If men and women have equal rights in this country, why are we still allowed to forever damage the most sensitive part of our little boys but it’s wrong to do it to girls? It needs to be illegal all the way around.

Condoms prevent HIV, not circumcision. HIV wouldn’t be so rampant in this country if circumcision prevented the virus.

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That’s great for people in San Francisco to try to protect the rights of babies. Hopefully the ban will pass, and hopefully that will set a precedent that many more cities and even states will follow.

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About time! Mutilation is mutilation…whether it’s because of tradition, religion or bogus health reasons!

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I have my foreskin and I am grateful to my parents for refusing to let the doctor cut off the most sensitive parts of my penis when this was an almost-unquestioned social norm. Infant circumcision rates are falling because most people today know that cutting a healthy baby is unnecessary and unethical. It doesn’t matter if you think God wants you to cut it off, or if you think it’ll reduce his HIV risk… it’s HIS body, so HE has the right to decide for HIMSELF if he doesn’t want his foreskin for whatever reason. Simple as that. If girls have a right to 100% of their sex organs, than so do boys. Equal rights, and equal protection under the law!

Over 80% of the men on this planet have their foreskin, are perfectly happy and are not complaining. The Europeans think the American obsession with circumcision is insane…. and they’re right.

Someday the mutilation of all children (not just girls) will be illegal not just in San Fran, but across the country. I hope I live to see it. Peace.

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If males are supposed to have foreskins, they’d be born with them. …Oh, wait, they are.

I fully support the ban.

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I don’t use the word “Mutilation” because I feel that implies that there is something other than positive intent by parents.

Instead, I would say that circumcision is the permanent and painful removal of healthy, normal, sensitive, functional erogenous genital tissue from someone who is incapable of giving their personal, informed consent.

Unnecessary cosmetic surgeries that removes thousands and thousands of nerve endings like those found in the fingertips and lips do not justify parental proxy-consent. The medical/hygiene motivations have been disproved, which is why national medical organizations around the world are clear – the practice is NOT recommended.

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Physical integrity is the the fundamental right to ones own body, a right that was repeatedly violated with the implementation of mass industrialized, non-consenting, non-therapeutic male infant circumcision in the Unites States. A wide range of surgical complications occur in 2-10% of the cases.(1) Since there are approximately 120 million circumcised men in the United States today, it stands to reason that there are millions of men who suffer daily from the effects of these botched circumcisions. These are the men who can benefit most form the work at Foregen.

Many Americans are surprised to hear that circumcision (the surgical removal of the foreskin) is uncommon in the western world. Foreigners are often shocked when they first hear that the practice of circumcision even exists in the United States. Circumcision was first introduced in the United States by an anti-sexual Victorian initiative which began during the 1830’s. Numerous publications from the 1830’s to times even as late as the 1970’s had advocated for circumcision as a means to prevent masturbation, and permanently desensitize the penis.(2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12)

Circumcision advocates quickly moved on to manufacture a number of outrageous health claims. These claims were tailored to the fears and anxieties of the day. Circumcision has been claimed to cure epilepsy, convulsions,? paralysis, elephantiasis, tuberculosis, eczema, bed-wetting, hip-joint disease, fecal incontinence, rectal prolapse, wet dreams, hernia, headaches, nervousness, hysteria, poor eyesight, idiocy, mental retardation, insanity, strabismus, hydrocephalus, clubfoot, cancer, STD’s, UTI’s, ect.(13) Doctors were eager to claim that they could cure many of these aliments,conditions and diseases because there were no treatments available then. Even though all of these claims have been throughly discredited, circumcision has remained a solution in search of a problem ever since. Many Americans are surprised to find out that female genital cutting (FGC) shares a strikingly similar history in the United States.(5,14,15,16,17,18,19) FGC was even covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield until 1977. Nowadays, many forms of FGC are now considered forms of female genital mutilation (FGM), which are banned in all western countries.

Perhaps the most shocking fact is that circumcision continues to be practiced in the United States even though no official western medical organization in the world recommends it. The Royal Dutch Medical Society, The British Medical Association, the Canadian Pediatric Society, and the Royal Australian College of Physicians have all made official policy statements against circumcision. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Urological Association all do not recommend circumcision, and are also in agreement that there are no proven benefits.

For some reason this information is not making it to parents. Studies have shown that doctors provide parents with almost no accurate or useful information about circumcision. One study showed that 40% of parents believed that their doctors failed to provide enough information, 46% reported that their doctors failed to give them any medical information at all, and 82.8% of parents regretted their decision they made within the first six months of their son’s life.(20) Another study found that physicians were less likely to circumcise their own sons.(21) This suggests that doctors are very well aware that circumcision is a non-therapeutic surgery (in short, a ritual); but they do not appear to share this knowledge with parents. A busy physician can supplement their income by as much as $60,000 per year from circumcision surgeries alone.(22) This incentive can cloud a physician’s judgment when it comes to providing parents with information about circumcision.

Many parents are surprised to hear that anesthetics are used in only a minority of cases.(23) The use of local anesthetics significantly drives up the costs of surgery. When anesthetics are used, they can only reduce the pain. Infants can not be given general anesthesia because of the medical risks involved. In the recent past, anesthesia was rarely used, if ever. Because of this, circumcision has always been an extremely traumatizing experience causing an array of short and long term behavioral problems, including altered perceptions, and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)(24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35), and a possibly self destructive behavior(36,37). Many circumcised men, some of whom are doctors, experience a strong denial of loss which in turn fuels an emotional compulsion to repeat the trauma to normalize their loss.(38,39,40,41,42)

What is the foreskin? is a question that many Americans would have trouble answering. Information about the foreskin is virtually absent during discussions of anatomy in biology classrooms, and yet, the foreskin provides a well-documented set of crucial sensory, protective, immunological, hygienic, and sexual functions. The foreskin is a double fold of skin that is twice as big as its appearance. It can make up to 80% or more of the penile skin covering, and includes around 12-20 square inches of skin (the size of a 3×4 or a 4×5 index card!)(43,46), and in turn includes a specialized sheet of dartos muscle(44)

One of the functions of this mobile skin system is to glide up and down the shaft of the penis in order to facilitate non-abrasive stimulation during sexual activity without any need for artificial lubricant. This frictionless gliding mechanism is the principal source of stimulation for the intact penis and facilitates non-abrasive intercourse.

The neuro-anatomy of the penis has been rigorously studied by respected anatomists of all kinds. The component tissues that comprise the foreskin are richly innervated with the greatest quantity and variety of sensory nerve endings than any other part of the penis.(45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53) Many people are surprised to discover that the glans or “head” of the penis is actually the least sensitive part.(46,52,53)

To no surprise, this information was corroborated in a 2006 study which measured the sensitivity of all the parts of the penis. Researchers used an extremely sensitive pressure sensing probe while each test subject, whose view was blocked with a screen, reported a sensation of touch. To demonstrate precision they took each measurement multiple times. The results were statistically consistent. They concluded:

“Five locations on the uncircumcised penis that are routinely removed at circumcision were more sensitive than the most sensitive location on the circumcised penis[...] The glans in the circumcised male is less sensitive to fine-touch pressure than the glans of the uncircumcised male[...]The most sensitive location on the circumcised penis is the circumcision scar on the ventral surface [...] When compared to the most sensitive area of the circumcised penis, several locations on the uncircumcised penis that are missing from the circumcised penis were significantly more sensitive.”(53)

The foreskin, like the eyelid, also serves an important set of protective and immunological functions. The foreskin protects the delicate glans of the penis and puts the urethra at a distance form its environment protecting it from foreign contaminants of all kinds. While simultaneously shielding the penis from injury. The foreskins inner fold and the glans of the penis are comprised of mucous membrane tissue. These are also present in your eyes, mouth, and all other bodily orifices including the female genitals. These mucous membranes perform many immunological and hygienic functions. Certain components such as Langerhans cells(54), plasma cells(55), apocrine glands(56), and sebaceous glands(57), collectively secrete emolliating lubricants(58) rich in enzymes such as lysosomal enzymes, cathepsin B, chymotrypsin, neutrophil elastase, immunoglobulin, and cytokine(59,60) whose function is to sequester and “digest” foreign pathogens. The foreskin is also responsible for the production, retention, and dispersal of pheromones such as androsterone(61). In time we will discover even more information about the foreskin and its functional components.

The intact penis is naturally clean and maintains a level of hygiene that is optimal when compared to a penis that has been altered by circumcision. In fact, a myriad of rigorously controlled studies performed by objective researchers among racially and socioeconomically homogeneous study groups in developed urban settings have shown that circumcision is either often associated with an increased risk of bacterial infections, viral infections, and major STD’s, or no significant diffrence. (62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73).

Needless to say, circumcised men have been denied normal bodily functions associated with anatomically correct genitalia. Foregen is working tirelessly to restore physical integrity and emotional wellbeing to circumcised men who desire genital intactness. Visit Foregen.org and dontate to support the cause.

Refrences:
(1)Williams, N; L. Kapila (October 1993). “Complications of circumcision”. British Journal of Surgery 80 (10): 1231-1236.
(2) Lallemand C-F. Des Pertes Seminales Involontaires, 3 vols. Pasis: Becht Jeune 1836, 1839,? 1842. Vol1.,pp.463-1: vol2., 70-162; vol. 3,.pp266-7,280-9
(3) Dixon EH. A Treatise on Diseases of the Sexual organs. New York: Burgess, Stringer & Co. 1845. pp.158-65
(4) Moses MJ. The Value of circumcision as a hygienic and therapeutic measure.? New York medical journal 1871 Nov;14(4):368-74
(5)Kellogg, J.H.? (1888). “Treatment for Self-Abuse and Its Effects”. Plain Facts for Old and Young. Burlington, Iowa: F. Segner & Co. Plain Facts for Old and Young (1881 edition) at Project Gutenberg
(6) Hutchinson J. On Circumcision as preventive of masturbation. Archives of surgery 1891 Jan;2(7);267-9
(7) Remondino PC. Negro rapes and their social problems. National popular review 1894? Jan;4(1) 3-6
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(9) Guttmacher AF. Should? the baby be circumcised? Parents Magazine 1941 sept; 16(9):26,76-8
(10) Miller RL. Snyder DC. Immediate circumcision of the new born male. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1953, Jan;6 (1):1-11
(11) Fishbein M. Sex hygiene. In: Fishbein M(ed). Modern Home Medical Adviser. Garden City, New York Doubleday& Company:1969. pp. 90. 119.
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(13) F. A. Hodges, “Short ?History of the Institutionalization of Involuntary Sexual Mutilation in the United States,” in G. C. Denniston and M. F. Milos, eds., Sexual Mutilations: A Human Tragedy (New York: Plenum Press, 1997), 35.
(14) Robert Tuttle Morris, M.D. Is evolution trying to do away with the clitoris? American Association of OB/GYNs Vol.5, 1892, pp.288-302
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(16) Benjamin E. Dawson, A.M., M.D. Circumcision in the Female: Its Necessity and How to Perform it. American Journal of Clinical Medicine. Vol.22, No. 6, June 1915, pp.520-525
(17) Belle C. Eskridge M.D. Why not circumcise the girl as well as the boy? Texas State Journal of Medicine Vol. 14, May 1918
(18) Mc Donald, C.F., M.D. Circumcision of the female. General Practitioner Vol. 18 No3, Sept 1958, pp.98-99
(19) W.G. Rathmann M.D. Female Circumcision: Indications and a new Technique. General practitioner Vol. 20, No.3, Sept 1959, pp.115-120
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(21) Topp, S. (1978, January). Why not to circumcise your baby boy. Mothering, 6, 69-77.
(22) Fleiss, Paul M.D. What your Doctor May Not Tell You About Circumcision. Warner books. New York. Sept 2002.
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(25) Porter FL, Miller RH, and Marshal RE. Neonatal pain cries: effect of circumcision on acoustic features and perceived urgency. Child Dev 1986;57:790-802.
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(42)Goldman R. Circumcision policy: a psychosocial perspective. Paediatr Child Health 2004;9(9):630-3.
(43) See photographic series in: lander MM. The Human prepuce. In: Denniston GC, Milos MF (eds). Sexual Mutilations: a human Tragedy. New York: Plenum Press; 1997. pp.79-81
(44)Jefferson G. The peripenic muscle; some observations on the anatomy of phimosis. Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics 1916 Aug;23(2):177-81.
(45) Moldwin RM, Valderrama E. Immunohistochemical analysis of nerve distribution patterns within preputial tissues. J Urol 1989 Apr;141(4):499A. (abstract)
(46) Taylor JR, Lockwood AP, Taylor AJ. The prepuce: specialized musocsa of the penis and its loss to circumcision. Br J Urol 1996 Feb;77(2): 291-5
(47) Dogiel AS. Die Nervenendigungen in der Haut der ausseren Genitalorgane des Menschen. Archiv fur Mikroskopische Anatomie 1893:41:585-612
(48)Bazett HC, McGlone B, Williams RG, Lufkin HM. Depth, distribution and probable identification in the prepuce of sensory end-organs concerned in sensations of temperature and touch; thermometric conductivity. Archives of Neurology and psychiatry 1932 Mar; 27(3):489-517
(49) Ohmori D. Uber die Entwicklung der Innervation der Genitalapparate als peripheren Aufnahmeapperat der Genitalen Reflexe. Zeitschrift fur Anatomie und Entwicklungsgeschichte 1924;70(1):347-410.
(50)Halata Z, Munger BL. The neuroanatomical basis for the protopathic sensibility of the human glans penis. Brain Res 1986 Apr23;371(2):205-30.
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(53)Morris L. Sorrells, James L. Snyder. Fine-touch pressure thresholds in the adult penis . BJU 2006 Oct:22, pp. 864-869
(54) Weiss GN, Sanders M, Westbrook KC. The distribution and density of Langerhans cells in the human prepuce: site of diminished immune response? Isr J Med Sci 1993 Jan;29(1);42-3
(55) Flower PJ, Ladds PW, Thomas AD, Watson DL. An immunopathologic study on the bovine prepuce. Vet Pathol 1983 Mar;20(2):189-201.
(56)Ahmed A, Jones AW. Apocrine Cystadenoma: a report of two cases occurring on the prepuce. Br J Dermatol 1969 Dec; 81(12):899-901.
(57)Hyman AB, Brownstien MH. Tyson’s “glands”: ectopic sebaceous glands and papillomatosis penis. Arch Dermatol 1969 Jan;99(1):31-6
(58)Parkash S, Jeykumar S, Subramanyan K, Chaudhuri S. Human Subpreputial collection: its nature and formation. J Urol 1973 Aug 110(2):211-2
(59) Ahmed AA, Nordlind K, Schultzberd M, Liden S. Immunohisto chemical localization of IL-1 alpha-, IL-1 beta-, IL-6- and TNF-alpha-like immunoreactivities in human apocrine glands Arch
(60) Frohlich E Shamburg-Lever G, Klesses C. Immunelectron microscopic localization of cathepsin B in human apocrine glands. J Cutan Pathol 1993 Feb;20(1):54-60
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(62)Dermatol Res 1995;287(8):764-6Smith GL, Greenup R, Takafuji ET. Circumcision as a risk factor for urethritis in racial groups. AM J Public Health 1987 Apr;77(4):452-4
(63) Bassett I, Donovan B, Bodsworth NJ. Male circumcision and common sexually transmissible diseases in a developed nation setting. Genitourin Med 1994 Oct;70(5):317 -20.
(64) Bassett I, Donovan B, Bodsworth NJ, Field PR, Ho DW, jeansson S, Cunningham AL. Herpes Simplex virus type 2 infection of heterosexual men attending a sexual health sentre. Med J Aust 1994 Jun 6:160(11);697-700
(65) Van Howe R. Does Circumcision Influence Sexually Transmitted diseases?: a literature review. BJU Int 1999 Jan;83 Suppl 1:52-62.
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YAY for a ban. It’s about time. Boys should be protected from mutilation just like girls. I hope it passes and spreads throughout the country.

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It’s a step in the right direction! 100% of baby boys are opposed to circumcision! His body, his choice.

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Good! It should have been banned along with female genital cutting in 1996.

I’m all for religious freedom….til it require altering a child. Altering your son’s body because of YOUR religion takes his choice of religion as an adult. What if a boy has no desire to be Jewish? He’s left with permanent physical scars and is missing a vital piece of his genitals! Let the owner of the penis make up his mind in adulthood as to what he wants.

My husband is circumcised simply because that’s just what was done in the mid-west when he was born…he isn’t happy about it. We are keeping out son due in June whole just like nature intended him to be!

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YES! It should be banned. We protect girls from even the most minor genital cutting. But we offer up our sons to ripped and cut and robbed of up to 75% of their penile nerves. THAT is CRAZY! Teach him how to wash, teach him to use a condom and teach him that you, his parents respect his sovereignty as a human being. Circumcision is painful, dangerous (approx 200 US boys die per year from it) and completely unnecessary. It violates their most basic human rights. It violates the 1st and 14th Amendments. Any doctor who performs routine infant circumcision is violating their Hippocratic oath. HIS BODY. HIS CHOICE.
Circumcision is nothing more than an archaic social custom that needs to come to an end. TAKE THE WHOLE BABY HOME ?

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It’s way past time that this genital mutilation is outlawed. Baby girls are protected from ANY form of genital cutting (even the ritual ‘nick’, which is FAR less invasive and damaging than what is done to baby boys); this protection is unconstitutional, for it denies boys the right to equal protection under the law.

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Good for San Francisco! Circumcision is horrible and completely unnecessary. Worried your boy won’t be clean? Get off your lazy butt and teach him the proper way to pull back his NATURAL foreskin and clean himself. Think it leads to cancer? Show me the proof! And I too have seen many circs done in hospitals, all done with minimal (if any) sedation or pain relief, all causing the baby to arc their back off the contraption they’re STRAPPED DOWN to, all causing them to scream in horrible pain and hold their breath. And not once have I seen a parent in the room while this is happening. Want to mutilate your child? Then you should have to watch the whole ugly show.

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It is also fairly fictitious to show a crying infant as the picture for this article.Most babies receive pain relief and when properly soothed by their parent do not become hysterical.And yes i have seen a baby circumcised in person and not on youtube.There is way too much personal bias and personal opinion to allow a ban like this to take place.

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Maria, I wonder if some topical anesthetic and ‘comfort’ from someone would be enough for YOU if you were strapped down and someone was cutting off bits of YOUR genitals? Most circumcision is done WITHOUT pain relief. If you have watched a circumcision in person and you feel it’s okay or even worse, something you would recommend, then I say you have no soul or human compassion. Circumcision is completely unnecessary. So even if pain management were possible, why on earth would you do that to a baby?

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I imagine if circumcision is banned in San Francisco they will start losing citizens.It is absolutely self righteous and judgmental for those who call it mutilation.What is fascinating is this is taking place before the CDC comes out with their new data which has been said seems to show circumcision being more beneficial then previously thought, very fascinating.

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Oh please! CONDOMS and safe sex prevent STD’s. No amputation required. All the supposed benefits have time and time again been proven false.

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It IS already banned in SF. For girls. you can’t even prick their genitals for a few drops of blood for a religious ceremony…but you CAN amputate a healthy part of a baby. yeah. THAT makes total sense. What happened to equal rights?

And, look up mutilation in the dictionary. That is exactly what people are doing to baby BOYS.

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Can You Believe San Francisco Might Ban Male Circumcision?

First the city of San Francisco banned McDonald’s from putting toys in their Happy Meals and now there’s a proposed ban on male circumcision! Is that crazy?

–Amy L. Harper

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