Circimcision has also been called genital mutilation, partial penis amputation, penis reduction surgery etc. It is all these things, the word circumcision being a euphenism. A related issue is female circumcision.
Circumcision removes half the skin of the penis, including 2 layers of skin, a thin layer of muscle, glands, some immune defences, tens of thousands of nerves and leaves a bloody mess. What is removed is the most sensitive part of the body.
85% of the worlds male population is intact. There are many excellent websites strongly stating the case for leaving an infant boys genitals intact.
These pages will tend to concentrate on issues which are not so well covered on other sites.
Circumsion is done for ritual purposes by Moslems and Jews. I do not consider this to be a civilized practice. These pages will concentrate on circumcisions performed by doctors.
In the US about 60% of male infants are routinely circumcised. More male infants are circumcised (for non-religious purposes) there than anywhere else in the world. In Europe and Asia is is rare. In Australia in the 1950s (and North America) the rate was over 90%. It has since dropped to between 2% and 20%, depending on which state you live in.
Interesting question, why have rates dropped so much more in Australia, Canada and New Zealand than the US? One possibility is fees are much higher in the USA than Australia. Some evidence for this is that circumcisions rates in the US tend to be higher in states where the fees are higher.
Feelings of the child
A theory to explain routine infant circumcision
The bottom Line
Can a newborn baby feel pain?
Many people would consider this a rather stupid question,
but for many years the obstetric view was that they do not.
Read what psychologist David Chamberlain has to say about it.
Read about circumcision and surgery on
premature babies without any pain relief!!!.
If you don't like neonatal circumcision
do something about it.
Brilliant website
Circumstitions
Call it what it is:child abuse
Circumcision - What Parents Need to Know
Circumcision summary
Dr Posthevore
Three Reasons Behind Our Circumcision Decision
Brit Milah : Inconsistent with Jewish Ethics?
No harm
Intact
Cirp
Circinfo
Circumcision
Similarities in Attitudes and Misconceptions toward Infant Male Circumcision in North America and Ritual Female Genital Mutilation in Africa.
Not so different.