Tag Archives: circumcision

Courthouse News reports: A federal court in Louisiana rules that four prison guards may face sanctions and punitive damages because they “lost” video scans that supposedly justified fruitlessly searching an inmate suspected of inserting contraband in his rectum for four days. The scans they produced were not of the inmate, which the court could tell because there are major differences …

Radical fringe groups like Westboro Baptist and social justice groups took advantage of the Super Bowl media spotlight this weekend to stage protests across the Bay Area. Among them was a group of anti-circumcision “intactivists” called the Bloodstained Men. Glenn Beck came across the group near San Francisco’s Ferry Building and today he mocked them on his show, calling their …

Even though baby boys continue to contract herpes from their rabbis, yesterday the New York City Board Of Health repealed its requirement that Ultra Orthodox parents sign a Bloomberg-era consent form which warns them about a controversial circumcision ritual. Gothamist rants: After a few years of toothless bureaucracy and a minimal amount of government involvement, New York City is a …

From the West Palm Beach ABC affiliate: A judge has ordered the arrest of a local mother who has refused a court order to have her son circumcised. Heather Hironimus was supposed to turn over her 4-year-old son Chase and appear before a judge by 2 p.m. Tuesday. When Hironimus was a no-show, the judge signed a writ of bodily …

The above mobile billboard began cruising the streets of Manhattan this week. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is the philosophy of Anthony Losquadro, an anti-circumcision activist. Losquadro is the executive director of Intaction, an organization that has been informing the public about the harmful mental and physical effects of circumcising baby boys since 2010. On Saturday, Intaction unveiled …

Teabaggers mocked the protest on Twitter with “No Blood For Mohel!” I confess, I snickered.

Via Vancouver 24: Bill Gates is the most highly anticipated speaker at the TED Talks in Vancouver on Tuesday – but the Microsoft founder’s philanthropic work is being protested by “pro-foreskin” activists. The Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project has criticized a program funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which it said granted more than $160 million for 14 African …

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Rwanda’s Ministry of Health is promoting a male circumcision device that does not require a doctor as part of its HIV prevention program. A nation of 11.5 million, Rwanda has fewer than 600 doctors. A device called a PrePex was recently cleared for use. It will enable up to 700,000 men between the ages of 15 and 49 to be …

Canadian anti-circumcision activists say they will protest outside several  appearances by Oprah Winfrey because she has endorsed a skincare line that uses human cells harvested from foreskins. Via the Jewish Press: “How would Oprah respond if a skin cream for men hit the market that was made using cells from the genitalia of little girls? I think she would be …

This is reportedly the second such case since the NYC Department of Health last year mandated that parents give written permission for the ceremony. The mother in this case says the ritual was performed without her consent. (Via Gothamist)

Last month the New York City Department of Health issued a new ordinance requiring parents to sign a disclaimer avowing that they are aware of the risks regarding the “snip-n-suck” circumcisions performed by some Orthodox rabbis. Yesterday Jewish groups filed suit to block the new law. In the procedure, common among ultra-Orthodox Jews, the person performing the circumcision uses his …

After they finished approving Mayor Bloomberg’s ban on big sodas, yesterday the NYC Board of Health approved a new law requiring parents to sign a consent form before Orthodox rabbis can perform the bizarre ritual known as “snip-n-suck” circumcisions. The decision came as Orthodox Jews protested outside. Gothamist reports: “Metzitzah b’peh” is the practice of sucking the blood from a …

I am bored to tears with the entire subject, but since about 100 of you sent this last night: The American Academy of Pediatrics has shifted its official position on the contentious issue of infant circumcision, stating Monday that the medical benefits of the procedure for baby boys outweigh the small risks. In its first new policy statement on the …

According to a just-published Johns Hopkins University study, the declining U.S. rate of newborn circumcision will result in higher health costs for the nation when these boys become sexually active adults. About 55 percent of the 2 million males born each year in America are circumcised, a decrease from 79 percent in the 1980s, according to the report in the …

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In a wide-ranging AIDS Conference 2012 opening speech on numerous HIV/AIDS topics, this morning Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised the campaign to circumcise adult male Africans as a preventive for HIV infection. An excerpt via White House press release: On male circumcision, we’ve supported more than 400,000 procedures since last December alone. And I’m pleased to announce that PEPFAR …

The International AIDS Conference will be held later this month in Washington DC and advocates of circumcision as an HIV preventive plan to pressure attendees to consider making the surgery a “priority” in the battle against AIDS in Africa. Via press release: Voluntary medical male circumcision is one of the most effective HIV prevention tools available today. Countries where VMMC …