History of circumcision: Difference between revisions

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FGC was even covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield until 1977. Nowadays, many forms of FGC are now considered forms of female genital mutilation (FGM), which are banned in all western countries.

* 1855 [[Johnathon Hutchinson]] publishes his theory that circumcision '''prevents syphilis'''.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1865 [[Nathaniel Heckford]] claims that circumcision '''cures epilepsy'''.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1870 [[Lewis A. Sayre]] publishes a paper 'proving' that circumcision '''cures epilepsy'''.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1870 [[Lewis A. Sayre]] declares that circumcision '''prevents spinal paralysis'''.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1873 [[Joseph Bell]] announces his discovery that circumcision '''cures bed wetting'''.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1875 [[Lewis A. Sayre]] declares that '''foreskin causes curvature of the spine, paralysis of the bladder, and clubfoot'''.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1879 [[H.H. Kane]] 'discovers' that circumcision '''cures nocturnal emissions and abdominal neuralgia'''.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1881 [[Maximillian Landesburg]] announces that circumcision '''cures eye problems''' that he believed were '''caused by masturbation'''.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1886 [[William G. Eggleston]] declares that '''foreskin causes crossed eyes'''.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1890 [[William D. Gentry]] declares that circumcision cures blindness, deafness and dumbness.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1893 [[Mark J. Lehman]] demands immediate implementation of mass circumcision of all American boys.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1894 [[H.L. Rosenberry]] publishes paper 'proving' that circumcision '''cures urinary and rectal incontinence'''.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1900 [[Johnathan Hutchinson]] advises circumcision as way to '''decrease the pleasure of sex''', and hence to '''discourage sexual immorality'''.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1901 [[Ernest G. Mark]] notes that the "pleasurable sensations that are elicited from the extremely sensitive" inner lining of the foreskin may encourage a child to masturbate, which is why he recommends circumcision since it "lessens the sensitiveness of the organ". <ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1902 [[Roswell Park]] publishes paper 'proving' that '''foreskin causes epilepsy''' and that circumcision cures it.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1914 [[Abraham L. Wolbarst]] claims that circumcision '''prevents tuberculosis''' and demands the compulsory circumcision of all children in America.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1926 [[Abraham L. Wolbarst]] claims that circumcision '''prevents penile cancer'''.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1930 [[Norton Henry Bare]] claims that he has cured a boy of '''epilepsy''' by circumcising him.<ref>{{REFjournal

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[[File:Single_mogen.jpg|right|thumb|The [[Gomco|Gomco]] and [[Mogen|Mogen]] clamps.]]

* 1934 [[Aaron Goldstein]] and [[Hiram S. Yellen]] invent and mass market the [[Gomco]] clamp which makes it easier for doctors to cut off even more skin than in traditional circumcisions.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1942 [[Abraham Ravich]] claims that circumcision prevents '''prostate cancer'''.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1949 [[Eugene H. Hand]] declares that circumcision '''prevents venereal disease and cancer of the tongue'''.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1949 [[Douglas Gairdner]] points out that the previous years cases of infant '''circumcision deaths were not necessary given the lack of medical justification for circumcision'''.<br>(Note: This paper helped encourage the National Health Service to drop coverage for infant circumcision which led to the practical elimination of non- religious circumcision in the United Kingdom.)<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1951 [[Abraham Ravich]] invents claims that circumcision prevents '''cervical cancer in women'''.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1954 [[Ernest L. Wynder]] claims that male circumcision '''prevents cervical cancer in women.'''<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1971 [[Abraham Ravich]] claims that circumcision prevents cancer of the bladder and the rectum.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1973 [[R. Dagher]], [[Melvin Selzer]], and [[Jack Lapides]] declare that anyone who disagrees with their agenda to impose mass circumcision on America is deluded.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1975 The [[American Academy of Pediatrics]] Task force on Circumcision declares, "There are no medical indications for routine circumcisions and the procedure cannot be considered an essential component of health care."<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1985 [[Thomas E. Wiswell]] claims that circumcision prevents urinary tract infections.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1986 [[Aaron J. Fink]] claims that circumcision '''prevents AIDS'''.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1988 [[Aaron J. Fink]] invents the falsehood that circumcision '''prevents neonatal group B streptococcal disease'''.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1989 Under the direction of [[Edgar J. Schoen]], the [[American Academy of Pediatrics]] Task Force on Circumcision declares circumcision is necessary.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1991 [[Edgar J. Schoen]] tries and fails to convince European countries to institute mass circumcision.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1991 [[Aaron J. Fink]] declares mass circumcision is necessary to '''prevent sand from getting into the soldiers' foreskins'''.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1996 [[J.R. Taylor]] finds that the average amount of amputated foreskin was nearly half of the total penile skin.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1997 [[Edgar J. Schoen]] tries and fails once again to convince European countries to institute mass circumcision.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1997 [[Janice Lander]] discovers that '''circumcision without anesthesia is traumatic for babies'''.<br>(Note: Before this, almost all infant circumcisions were done without anesthetic due to the prevalent belief among circumcisers that babies are not capable of feeling significant pain and if they could it doesn't matter since they won't be able to remember it.)<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 1998 [[Howard J. Stang]], inventor of an upright circumcision restraint fails to mention this conflict of interest in his article promoting infant circumcision.<ref>{{REFjournal

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::'''Urinary Tract Infections:''' "breastfeeding was shown to have a threefold protective effect on the incidence of UTI in a sample of uncircumcised infants. However, breastfeeding status has not been evaluated systematically in studies assessing UTI and circumcision status." meaning that the earlier UTIs studies results were confounded. Even if their numbers were accurate, in order to prevent one UTI during the first year of life by circumcising a baby boy, approximately 195 babies who will not get a UTI would need to be circumcised. Also infant girls commonly develop UTIs(in some studies at even higher rates than infant boys) and the standard treatment for them is antibiotics which works just as well for infant boys with UTIs. The AAP concludes this section noting that "the absolute risk of developing a UTI in an uncircumcised male infant is low (at most, ~1%)".

::'''Ethics:''' Here they say while even though cutting off part of your baby's genitalia "is not essential to the child's current well-being" they are perfectly fine with parents and doctors using cultural tradition as justification.<br>(Note: The report does not mention whether they also think cultural tradition is an acceptable reason to anesthetize infant girls and then cut off their clitoral hoods(which are biologically analogous to foreskin)).<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 2002 [[W.K. Nahm]] extends the storage life of specialized cell cultures derived from "freshly harvested neonatal foreskin tissue."<br>(Note: Since the 1980s, some amputated infant foreskins have been sold without the knowledge of the parents to biomedical companies for research and even use in commercial cosmetic products such as anti-wrinkle creams.)<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 2003 [[Edgar J. Schoen]] steps up pressure on [[American Academy of Pediatrics]] to reverse its policy on circumcision, claiming that circumcision prevents AIDS.<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 2007 [[Robert C. Bailey]] ends his study early with the conclusion '''touting circumcision as a 'vaccine' that prevents HIV infection'''.<br>(Note: This and other similar studies were widely reported throughout the American media.)<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 2007 [[L. de Witte]] finds that '''Langerhans cells found in the foreskin are a natural barrier to HIV infection'''.<br>(Note: This and other similar studies were widely ignored throughout the American media.)<ref>{{REFjournal

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* 2007 [[Morris L. Sorrells]] ''et al.'' tests the relative sensitivity of the penis and finds that the '''foreskin is the most sensitive part of the penis and the glans is the least'''.<ref>{{REFjournal

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