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Wolbarst's article appeared on Skeldon (2008) commented:<blockquote>At first one might think that there was now a wave of medical evidence supporting the eve practice of routine male circumcision, but a closer look shows that most of World War Ithese claimswere observational and not evidence-based. It apparently influenced American military commanders to order For instance, in his article “Universalcircumcision as a sanitary measure,” the New York physician Abraham Leo Wolbarst(1872-1978) argues that circumcision prevents masturbation. During its publication, thiswas already a commonly held view and so was not generally questioned. But if oneconsiders the implications of military personnel under their command this, it becomes apparent that to prevent venereal diseases and improve military readinessstatistically prove such aclaim among young boys would be virtually impossible. This is why Wolbarst’s evidence consisted of what he called “authoritative observations” from other respectedpractitioners in the field.<ref name="hill2002skeldon2008">{{REFwebREFconference |urllast=Skeldon |first=Sean |author-link=http://purewatergazette.net/circumcision.htm |title=The Rise Medicalization and Fall Resultant Decline of Neonatal Circumcision: The Irrational Abuse Of Helpless Childrenin Canada
[[Category:History]]
→Universal circumcision as a sanitary measure
[[Image:Abraham L. Wolbarst.jpg|right|thumb|Abraham Leo Wolbarst]]
'''Abraham Leo Wolbarst''', {{MD}}, ({{LifeData|1872|1952}}) a New York City physicianand [[circumcised doctors| circumcised doctor]], was a notorious promoter of harmful non-therapeutic neonatal male [[circumcision]].
==Universal circumcision as a sanitary measure==
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/complications/holt1/
|accessdate=2020-03-30
}}</ref> Wolbarst was incensed by what he perceived as an attack on [[Brit Milah| ritual circumcision]], so he resolved to defend ritual circumcision by arguing that [[circumcision]] provided health benefits. Wolbarst's defense of circumcision was published in ''JAMA'' in 1914 and entitled "''Universal Circumcision as a Sanitary Measure''".<ref name="wolbarst1914">{{REFjournal
|last=Wolbarst
|first=Abraham L.
|title=Universal Circumcision as a Sanitary Measure
|journal=JAMA
|date=1914-101-10
|volume=62
|issue=2
}}</ref>
This was before the days of evidence-based medicine, when doctors relied on medical ''opinion'', instead of scientific ''evidence''. Wolbarst collected the ''opinions'' of several physicians and published those opinions as evidence for his argument that circumcision prevented diseases. Wolbarst argued that non-therapeutic neonatal circumcision prevented numerous diseases including venereal disease (now known as sexually transmitted disease).
|trans-title=
|language=
|lasturl=Hillhttps://prism.ucalgary.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/028cdb7b-3536-4b5b-921b-46ba3a2262ec/content |firstarchived=George |author-linkplace=George HillCalgary, AB |publisher=Health Sciences Centre |websitesource=purewatergazette |date=20022008-03 |datefrom=2008-1103-0407 |accessdatedateto=20202008-03-3008 |format=PDF |quoteaccessdate=2025-01-19}}</ref></blockquote> Wolbarst's article appeared on the eve of World War I. It apparently influenced American military commanders to order [[adult circumcision| circumcision]] of military personnel under their command to prevent venereal diseases and improve military readiness.<ref name="skeldon2008" /> No statistics exist to document how many men were [[circumcised ]] because of Wolbarst's article.
The adoption of circumcision as a prophylactic [[amputation]] by American military services falsely stigmatized the [[foreskin]] as being unhealthy. [[Robert S. Van Howe|Van Howe]] (1999) has exhaustively shown that circumcision does not protect against STDs.<ref name="vanhowe1999">{{REFjournal
Wolbarst was directly responsible for its proliferation. All subsequent repetions of this myth are directly traceable to Wolbarst's article, though Wolbarst himself advocated universal neonatal circumcision principally as a preventive for epilepsy, paralysis, and [[masturbation]]. Circumcision advocates such as Wolbarst do not seem to have promoted this myth because they have a genuine interest in reducing penile cancer; they used it instead as a scare tactic in the promotion of neonatal circumcision.<ref name="Fleiss 1996"/> Wolbarst's false claims were not disproved until 1979.
Boczko & Stanley (1979) collected numerous cases of cancer in [[circumcised ]] men.<ref name="boczko1979">{{REFjournal
|last=Boczko
|first=Stanley
|date=1975
|accessdate=
}}</ref> Maden ''et al'' (1993) reported [[penile cancer ]] among a fifth of elderly patients from rural areas who had been [[circumcised ]] neonatally and had been born at a time when the rate of neonatal [[circumcision ]] was about 20% in rural populations.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Maden
|init=C
|volume=85
|pages=19-24
}}</ref> Their study also shows that the rate of [[penile cancer ]] among men circumcised neonatally has risen in the [[United States ]] relative to the rise in the rate of neonatal [[circumcision]].
Although Wolbarst's falsehoods were disproved decades ago, they had entered into the American psyche where they continue to exert influence that they do not deserve.<ref name="hill2000">{{REFjournal
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Alleged reasons for circumcision]]
* [[Bias]]
* [[Circumcised doctors]]
* [[United States of America]]
{{ABBR}}
{{REF}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolbarst, Abraham L.}}
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