Dr. Oz and TheDoctorsTV and Genital Mutilation or Medical Procedure: The Issues Surrounding Circumcision
It’s curious that both Dr. Oz and the physicians on TheDoctorsTV show discussed Circumcision this week. The issues surrounding this topic are highly charged and hotly debated in the medical community and the respective religious communities.
The primary issue is that more and more people around the world are referring to circumcision as ‘genital mutilation’. They make the case that it is an unnecessary procedure that is painful and has health risks for the infant. This not only applies to male infants, but the issue extends to girls who have been mutilated for a number of reasons in Africa.
The doctors hold the position that circumcision might help to prevent penile cancer and possibly help to prevent the incidence of sexually-transmitted diseases. While this may well be the case, you have to realize that most boys and men who have NOT been circumcised do learn to attend to their personal cleanliness which also prevents disease. Circumcision in NOT necessary for these two purposes. Personal hygiene is the healthy Lifestyle activity that maintains the health of the reproductive organs along with healthy interpersonal relationships.
Dr. Jim mentioned that there are almost as many young male infants that die following the complication of circumcision as do men that die from penile cancer later in life. If those infants were not circumcised and taught by their parents and health providers to properly care for their personal well-being; then those numbers could be reduced substantially. It’s a personal choice and behavior that determines the risk for cancer of the penis. Infants do not get the choice when it comes to circumcision.
To illustrate the enormity of the situation, let me tell you that there was a story on the News about the hospital staff that took a woman’s newborn infant without permission and performed a circumcision after they knew full well that the mother did NOT want the procedure to be done on her newborn son. They did it anyway… They should be sued, fined, and fired from their jobs while no longer being permitted to practice medicine. The surgical procedure cannot be undone!
It has to be either the parent’s choice or allow the child to grow to maturity to determine if they still want the procedure. While there might be more conscious pain later in life, at least it will be by conscious choice! My own son was intentionally kept intact and he is glad with our decision. My personal preference is to stop performing circumcisions and focus on a healthy Lifestyle.
Young girls in Africa deserve your attention to bring an end to genital mutilation. The men in these cultures have made the determination for all the wrong reasons and the practice needs to end immediately. There is no medical reason for the genital mutilation. It scars the young women for life and causes more health problems for them. That’s entirely unfair and unacceptable!
So…let’s continue to discuss the issues, but we can respect religious choices, health choices, and most of all – personal choice and the freedom for self-determination of all personal care decisions.
