Better choices than circumcision

WE were very disappointed to read an article suggesting that circumcision may be a beneficial procedure, “Delicate Choice Just Got Tougher” [Nov. 28]. You report that circumcision may be associated with reduced rates of STD transmission. That may be true, but so is teaching your child about safe sex and the value of practicing monogamy, and these do not require surgically altering your child’s genitals without his consent.

Routine circumcision remains a barbarism and a serious violation of human rights. Every child is entitled to an intact body, as provided by nature or by God.

PETER MARSTON,

KAREN SWETT

Glendale

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DR. THOMAS COATES is quoted in closing as asking, “When these children grow up, and start having sex, we are guaranteeing they will be at a greater risk. Why would we want to do that?”

I ask him, when we submit infant boys to routine surgery just hours after birth, we are putting them at greater risk. Why would we want to do that?

Furthermore, long before a boy becomes sexually active, he will be capable of making rational decisions on his own health. Why circumcise at birth, when boys can decide for themselves later on if they want to undergo the surgery?

When we believed the myth that infants don’t feel pain, it made sense to perform painful procedures on them rather than waiting; now that we know better, though, there’s no reason not to wait until they are better able to withstand anesthesia, and can participate in the decision themselves.

MONICA WAGGONER

West Hollywood

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THE story is correct: The circumcision rate in the U.S. is falling rapidly, no national or international medical association in the world recommends circumcision, and even Medicaid recognizes that circumcision is not a medical procedure but instead is a cosmetic surgery, so state by state funding is ending.

Those who tout circumcision as protective against STDs apparently weren’t alive during the sexual revolution of the 1960s when few, if any, were protected by circumcision. Furthermore, the U.S. has one of the highest rates of circumcision and the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the developed world so, on its face, the idea that circumcision protects against STDs or HIV/AIDS is an unrealized fantasy.

In Africa, where several unethical studies are being conducted, Eastern Uganda, a non-circumcising country, has successfully curbed the spread of HIV/AIDS with an aggressive educational program that promotes safe sex and condom use.

Education, not amputation, is the answer to curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS or any other STD because it bears no risk and is cost effective.

MARILYN FAYRE MILOS

Executive director,

National Organization of

Circumcision Information

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