Say no to circumcision - support intactivism Blogs, articles, and websites of interest to Intactivists that were published in the past week. This is a running tally of the ones I found interesting.

This has been a good week for some good, educational posts on the harms of infant circumcision.
 

Sunday, January 10, 2010

The Lay Scientist: Circumcision and HIV/AIDS - I
A critical look at the circumcision campaign and how it includes partners who actively work against promoting condom use. The agenda of the campaign partners may explain the unreasonable push for circumcision in view of the weak evidence supporting it as a means to control HIV.

The Lay Scientist: Circumcision and HIV/AIDS - II
A thorough look at ritual circumcision in Africa. The author adds a footnote to part I by noting that the circumcision experiment has failed in the United States, which has the highest rate of non-therapeutic infant circumcision in industrialised countries and the highest rate of HIV in the developed world.

Likes to Ramble: Five Horrible Arguments for Circumcision
Five common reasons to circumcise infant boys and why they are not sufficient reason to cut off part of a boy's sex organ.
 

Monday January 11, 2010

Annals of Family Medicine: Safety and Efficacy of Nontherapeutic Male Circumcision: A Systematic Review
A notable meta analysis that determined "There is little evidence showing clinical benefit from nontherapeutic male circumcision." The implications were stated: "Patients who request circumcision for clinical reasons should be informed of the lack of consensus surrounding the procedure, the lack of strong evidence regarding its benefits, and the potential medical and psychosocial harms of the procedure." The study concluded: The role of adult nontherapeutic male circumcision in preventing sexually transmitted infections, urinary tract infections, and penile cancer remains unclear. Current evidence fails to recommend widespread neonatal circumcision for these purposes.

Iain Hall: MGM ignored due to “cultural sensitivity”
The point is made that female genital mutilation (FGM) is abhorrent in our culture, but male circumcsion, which is male genital mutilation (MGM), is accepted.

Dr. Pate's Blog: Throwing wrenches at the gears
An OB/GYN doctor refuses to ask parents if they desire to circumcise their infant boy. He is against circumcision and feels that it violates the rights of the infant boy.
 

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

MGMbill.org: Press Release: Circumcision Proposal Adds Fuel to Health Care Debate
A press release about the current efforts to promote a male genital mutilation bill before Congress, including inserting the provisions in the current health reform bill.

International Coalition for Genital Integrity: New study says circumcision can't be recommended
A critique of the Annals of Family Medicine study just published. ICGI argues that the study authors doe not go far enough considering the results of their research.

Male Circumcision and HIV: UPDATE: John J. Potteratt's article on learning from unexpected results in RCTs now available in pdf format
John J. Potteratt's article published in Future Medicine (Jan 2010), Randomized, Controlled Trials for HIV/AIDS Prevention in Africa: learning from unexpected results, is now available in pdf format

Male Circumcision and HIV: BUSINESSWEEK: Two reviews of the circumcision literature offer starkly different views
A critique of two recent studies that examined the literature on circumcision and reached widely divergent conclusions.

DrMomma peaceful parenting: MGM Bill Submitted to U.S. Congress and State Legislators
An update on the current status of the Male Genital Mutilation bill from MBMbill.org

Chaotic Mama: Circumcision Decision
A mother describes how she came to change her mind on circumcision and decided that it was better and more beneficial to not circumcise her son. She left in intact, just as he was born.

Globe Life: Health and Fitness: Circumcision health benefit virtually nil, study finds
A realistic look at circumcision, including the recently published Annals of Family Medicine study.

Adrian's Blog: … so shut up and stop whining about your stupid foreskin
A discussion of how the US culture views genital cutting differently depending upon the gender of the victim. The US culture wrongly thinks it is OK to cut the genitals of boys, but not girls.
 

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Gender Across Borders: What do you think about male/female circumcision? Take our polls! Plus updates on more news and discussion.
A roundup of recent circumcision related news and posts. Also, two polls for readers to answer.

Woman, uncensored: Circumcision is for weiners!
The typical reasons given to justify infant circumcision are bebunked with a dose of common sense. HIV, UTI's, and "dirty" foreksins are not reasons to circumcise an infant.

Mama Eve Blog: Hooray for the Mainstream Media! (sort of)
A critique of three recent articles, one each discussing C-sections, nursing, and male infant circumcision. The author points out how the articles did not accurately prvide complete information.

HealthNews: Circumcision Doesnt Make the Cutting Edge of Pediatric Recommendations
A look at the two recent studies where the Australian researches found that there no reason for infant circumcision and the American researchers who are on a circumcision campaign. It is notable that Australia does not routinely circumcise infants whereas Americans have a circumcision culture.
 

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Salem-News.org: 'The Lost Embrace', Circumcision and Peace
Description of a movie that shows circumcision as the harmful practice that it is.

The Family Chiropractor: To Cut or Not to Cut  - Male Circumcision
A chiropractor ponders the circumcision debate. He notes the different interpretations of data and how some find the data favors circumcision while others find the same data makes a case for not circumcising infant boys.

Woman Uncensored: AIDS Circumcision Fallacy
A blog with info from Dr. Dean Edell and his video on the misleading and unsound arguments in the current drive to circumcise Africa.