a matter of gravity

[Dennis Perrin/Nancy Bauer]

Circumcision may still be the surgery performed most frequently in the U.S.,
but in 
>other countries, far from it. And although many American doctors 
>still insist it reduces urinary infections and a rare form of cancer, 
>among other things, the practice is on the decline. Health 
>authorities, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, no longer 
>deem routine circumcision of baby boys a medical necessity.
>
>It was America, however, that lent circumcision its renown for 
>preventing disease on a mass scale. Beginning in the 1870s, it was 
>touted as a cure for ailments from hernia to imbecility. Before the 
>advent of antibiotics, public-health doctors presented it to parents 
>of newborns as vital to personal cleanliness and as a guard against 
>syphilis. By 1985, despite huge medical advances, 85% of baby boys in 
>America had their foreskins cut; 60% still do.
>

I went through this debate just before my son was born nearly five years
ago. My wife was adamantly opposed to circumcision. But for weeks I waffled,
partly because I'm circumcised (and remember the ridicule heaped upon those
boys in the high school showers who weren't), and partly because my father
somewhat pressured me to have my son cut. After reading some pro- and
anti-circumcision material, I reluctantly went with my wife. I'm glad I did,
and am sorry I wasn't stronger about it. The day after my son's birth, the
baby boy in the next hospital bed was suffering from an infection caused by
circumcision. His screams of pain were chilling, and his mother's distress
was evident. I felt really bad for them, and wondered why the mother allowed
her son to be strapped down and cut in the first place. Perhaps it wasn't
her decision. In any event, a cruel practice.

DP