I can only imagine how difficult it must be to be the parent of a new-born child – assuming complete responsiblility for the welfare of an otherwise helpless individual. Naturally some decisions that parents must make on behalf of their child are of little or no consequence – like deciding which clothes your baby will wear for the day – but other decisions, like whether or not to get your baby son circumcised, well, that’s a different matter entirely.

Many of you folks would no doubt have stumbled upon Channel Seven’s creatively titled current affairs programme ‘Sunday Night’ last weekend where you might have seen Monique Wright’s report on the ‘new’ research that has emerged regarding the potential medical benefits of circumcision. If you didn’t get to see the programme or if you are keen to see the segment again, it can be found here – at least until next Sunday.

It’s obviously a contentious issue – parents and people in general are hesitant when knives and genitals are mentioned in the same sentence but at the same time if the evidence suggests that our boys are better off circumcised then not then we obviously have an obligation to at least consider the option. Before we get rational and actually look at the science behind circumcision though, let’s do some history and some cursory glancin’.

Circumcision has been practiced for thousands of years, the earliest recorded cases coming from the ancient Egyptians. Jewish scripture is replete with the mention of the necessity of circumcision and to this day all Jewish boys are required to participate in brit milah in their eighth day of life in order to welcome them into their covenant with God. While it is not mandated by the Qur’an the majority of Muslim boys undergo Khitan as well, the widespread view in the Muslim world being that circumcision serves to introduce boys to Islam and foster a sense of belonging within the Islamic community.

Of course parents throughout the ages have had their boys circumcised for entirely non-religious reason as well – “we want him to look like his Dad”, “it’s better for hygene” and “it prevents disease” are all often cited as justification.
Despite the ongoing debate it seems to be a fairly basic issue to me – in order to get your son circumcised the health benefits must outweigh the ethical and moral considerations. “What considerations?” I hear you ask. Thanks for the lead in.

If you put aside the potential health benefits of circumsion for one second and consider in isolation the process of cutting a portion of a baby boy’s penis off, how is this tradition any different to the phenomenon known as female genital cutting? Both procedures take place on the assumption that it is morally justified for parent(s) to subject an unconsenting minor to an operation which causes significant pain and discomfort on the grounds that such pain is fleeting and that the procedure is of overall benefit. Sure, it might be a strong comparison to make, but it is a valuable one, if only to ensure that parents don’t make lightly the decision to circumcise their sons.

While we are in the business of dissuading parents from cutting chunks off their sons, besides circumcision, since when has preventative surgery been recommended as acceptable medical practice? As one of the doctors in the aforementioned video points out, would we be willing to take a pre-emptive strike against our noses in the fear that we might one day contract a cancer of the nose as a result of over-exposure to UV rays?

If you want the official word on whether or not circumcision is a valuable course of action, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians suggests that there is “no evidence of benefit outweighing harm for circumcision as a routine procedure in the neonate”. The American Medical Association similarly reports that “professional societies representing Australian, Canadian and American pediatricians do not recommend circumcision of male newborns”.
However in 2007 the World Health Organisation released a report suggesting that “the research evidence that circumcision is efficacious in reducing sexual transmission of HIV from women to men is compelling”. That can’t be a bad thing, I mean, who’s going to argue that we shouldn’t be doing everything in our power to stop the spread of HIV around the world?

The reality is that there are other things we can do to prevent the spread of HIV without having to take a knife to new-born boys in developing countries – things like spending more time teaching people about the need to wear condoms – but wait, I don’t want to steal the WHO’s thunder; “Male circumcision should never replace other known methods of HIV prevention and should always be considered as part of a comprehensive HIV provention package, which includes: prompting delay in the onset of sexual relations, abstinence from penetrative sex and reduction in the number of sexual partners; providing and promoting correct and consistent use of male and female condoms…”

Before we wrap this bad boy up, let’s glance cursorily at Dr. Brian Morris’ website – he’s the guy in the ‘Sunday Night’ video who is advocating the introduction of mandatory circumcision (good luck with that). In amongst a swathe of generally interesting pro-circumcision propaganda I stumbled upon a provocatively titled brochure – ‘Sex and Circumcision – What every woman needs to know’. You see, not only does Dr. Morris advocate the introduction of mandatory circumcision in new-born boys, he also urges women to encourage circumcision in their sexual partners, for the woman’s own wellbeing.

As far as I can tell, of the seven ways that women benefit from a circumcised partner – according to Dr. Morris – five can be achieved just as well by using a condom, one is a generalisation and over-simplification of the sexual preferences and practices of women and the other is a confusing attempt to justify circumcision as a preventative measure for phimosis. Other than that, I reckon it’s a great idea to try to convince your boyfriend to cut part of his dick off, if only for the reaction that would ensue…

Her: Um, baby. You know how I’m always worried about getting diseases and stuff down there?
Him: Down where?
Her: You know…
Him: Oh. Down there.
Her: Yeah, well, there’s this doctor who reckons he can stop me from getting all sorts of nasties.
Him: Yeah? Sounds like a good idea. What’s involved?
Her: Oh nothing much. They just take you into hospital for the afternoon and cut off a chunk of your junk.
Him: I don’t think we should be together...

Tags: Channel Seven, circumcision, health, Islam, Judaism, religion, Sunday Night, World Health Organisation

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 at 7:46 am and is filed under health, religion, society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.