The case against circumcision

Abstract

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

National Hospital Discharge Survey. Center for Health Statistics, Beltsville, MD, 2005.

Committee on Fetus and Newborn. Standards and Recommendation for Hospital Care of Newborn infants. 5th ed.. Evanston, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics; 1971, p. 110.

Foetus and Newborn Committee. FN 75-01 Circumcision in the Newborn Period. CPS News Bull Suppl, 1975; 8(2):1–2.

Van Howe

R.S.

A cost-utility analysis of neonatal circumcision. Med Decis Making, 2004; 24:584–601.

Goldman

Circumcision policy: a psychosocial perpective. Paediatr Child Health, 2004; 9(9):630–633.

Cold

C.J.

, Taylor

J.R.

The prepuce. BJU Int, 1999; 83(Suppl. 1):34–44.

Gairdner

The fate of the foreskin: a study of circumcision. Br Med J, 1949; 2:1433–1437.

Fleiss

, Hodges

, Van Howe

R.S.

Immunological functions of the human prepuce. Sex Transm Infect, 1998; 74(5):364–367.

Smith

G.L.

, Greenup

, Takafuji

E.T.

Circumcision as a risk factor for urethritis in racial groups. Am J Public Health, 1987; 77:452–454.

10.

Wiswell

T.E.

, Miller

G.M.

, Gelston

H.M.

Jr. , Jones

S.K.

, Clemmings

A.F.

Effect of circumcision status on periurethral bacterial flora during the first year of life. J Pediatr, 1988; 113(3):442–446.

11.

Winkelmann

R.K.

The erogenous zones: their nerve supply and significance. Mayo Clin Proc, 1959; 34(2):39–47.

12.

Taylor

J.R.

, Lockwood

A.P.

, Taylor

A.J.

The prepuce: specialized mucosa of the penis and its loss to circumcision. Br J Urol, 1996; 77:291–295.

13.

Sorrells

M.L.

, Snyder

J.L.

, Reiss

M.D.

, Eden

, Milos

M.F.

, Wilcox

, et al. Fine-touch pressure thresholds in the adult penis. BJU Int, 2007; 99:864–869.

14.

Waldinger

M.D.

, Quinn

, Dileen

, Mundayat

, Schweitzer

D.H.

, Boolell

A multinational survey of intravaginal ejaculation latency time. J Sex Med, 2005; 2:492–497.

15.

Warren

, Bigelow

The case against circumcision. Br J Sex Med, 1994; 6–8.

16.

Taves

The intromission function of the foreskin. Med Hypotheses, 2002; 59(2):180–182.

17.

Taylor

J.R.

Fine-touch pressure thresholds in the adult penis. BJU Int, 2007; 100(1):218.

18.

Kim

, Pang

The effect of male circumcision on sexuality. BJU Int, 2007; 99(3):619–622.

19.

Halata

, Munger

B.L.

The neuroanatomical basis for the protopathic sensibility of the human glans penis. Brain Res, 1986; 371(2):205–230.

20.

Zwang

Functional and erotic consequences of sexual mutilations. In: Denniston

G.C.

, Milos

M.F.

, editors. Sexual Mutilations: A Human Tragedy. New York: Plenum Press; 1997.

21.

O’Hara

, O’Hara

The effect of male circumcision on the sexual enjoyment of the female partner. BJU Int, 1999; 83(Suppl 1):79–84.

22.

Bensley

G.A.

, Boyle

G.J.

Effects of male circumcision on female arousal and orgasm. N Z Med J, 2003; 116(1181):595–596.

23.

Taddio

, Katz

, Ilersich

A.L.

, Koren

Effect of neonatal circumcision on pain response during subsequent routine vaccination. Lancet, 1997; 349(9052):599–603.

24.

Maguire

, Parks

C.M.

Coping with loss: surgery and loss of body parts. BMJ, 1998; 316(7137):1086–1088.

25.

van der Kolk

B.A.

The compulsion to repeat the trauma: re-enactment, revictimization, and masochism. Psychiatr Clin North Am, 1989; 12(2):389–411.

26.

LeBourdais

Circumcision no longer a “routine” surgical procedure. Can Med Assoc J, 1995; 152(11):1873–1876.

27.

Goldman

The psychological impact of circumcision. BJU Int, 1999; 83(Suppl. 1):93–103.

28.

Hill

, Geisheker

J.V.

Edgar Schoen does not represent the North American view of male circumcision. Arch Dis Child, 2006; 91:92.

29.

Donovan

Book review: In favour of circumcision by Brian Morris. Venereology, 1999; 12:68–69.

30.

Williams

, Kapila

Complications of circumcision. Brit J Surg, 1993; 80:1231–1236.

31.

Newell TEC. Judgement of inquiry into the death of McWillis, Ryleigh Roman Bryan. Burnaby, BC: British Columbia Coroner's Service, Monday, 19 January 2004. Available at: http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/pdf/BCcoroner_2004.pdf.

32.

Paediatric Death Review Committee. Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario. Circumcision: a minor procedure?. Paediatr Child Health, 2007; 12(4):311–312. Available at: http://www.pulsus.com/Paeds/12_04/Pdf/zwol_ed.pdf.

33.

Van Howe

R.S.

, Robson

W.L.M.

The possible role of circumcision in newborn outbreaks of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Clin Pediatr (Phila), 2007; 46(4):356–358.

34.

Nguyen

D.M.

, Bancroft

, Mascola

, et al. Risk factors for neonatal methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection in a well-infant nursery. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol, 2007; 28(4):406–411.

35.

Siegfried

, Muller

, Volmink

, Deeks

, Egger

, Low

, et al. Male circumcision for prevention of heterosexual acquisition of HIV in men (Cochrane Review). In: The Cochrane Library, Issue 3, 2003. Oxford: Update Software.

36.

Denniston

G.C.

, Hill

Male circumcision in HIV prevention. Lancet, 2007; 369:1598.

37.

Nicoll

Routine male neonatal circumcision and risk of infection with HIV-1 and other sexually transmitted diseases. Arch Dis Child, 1997; 77:194–195.

38.

Johnson

L.F.

, Dorrington

R.E.

Assessment of HIV Vaccine Requirements and Effects of HIV Vaccination in South Africa: Report Prepared for the South African Vaccine Initiative., Capetown: Centre for Actuarial Research; 2006 Available at: http://www.commerce.uct.ac.za/Research_Units/CARE/RESEARCH/PAPERS/AvaccineAssessment5.pdf.

39.

Anon. CDC HIV/AIDS Science Facts: Male Circumcision and Risk for HIV Transmission: Implications for the United States. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control, March 2007. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/factsheets/PDF/circumcision.pdf.

40.

Talbott

J.R.

Size matters: the number of prostitutes and the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. PloS One, 2007; 6:e543. Available at: http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchArticle.action?articleURI=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0000543.

41.

Mansfield

C.J.

, Hueston

W.J.

, Rudy

Neonatal circumcision: associated factors and length of hospital stay. J Fam Pract, 1995; 41(4):370–376.

42.

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Inflation calculator. Available at: http://www.bls.gov/home.htm.

43.

Anon. United States: Births. Kaiser State Health Facts, 2004. Available at: http://www.statehealthfacts.org/cgi-bin/healthfacts.cgi?action=profile&area=United+States&category=Health+Status&subcategory=Births.

44.

Fox

, Thomson

A covenant with the status quo? Male circumcision and the new BMA guidance to doctors. J Med Ethics, 2005; 31:463–469. Available at: http://jme.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/31/8/463.

45.

Schmidt vs. Niznik , Cook County Illinois, No. 00 D 18272. Available from David Llewellyn, attorney-at-law, at: davidllewellyn@johnsonward.com.

46.

Povenmire

Do parents have the legal authority to consent to the surgical amputation of normal, healthy tissue from their infant children?: the practice of circumcision in the United States. Am Univ J Gend Soc Policy Law, 1998; 7:87–123.

47.

Svoboda

J.S.

, Van Howe

R.S.

, Dwyer

J.C.

Informed consent for neonatal circumcision: an ethical and legal conundrum. J Contemp Health Law Policy, 2000; 17:61–133.

48.

Doctors Opposing Circumcision. International Human Rights Law and the Circumcision of Children. Seattle: Doctors Opposing Circumcision, 2006. Available at: http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/pdf/US-HumanRightsReport2006-04.pdf.

49.

Doctors Opposing Circumcision. Medical Ethics and the Circumcision of Children. Seattle: Doctors Opposing Circumcision, 2006. Available at: http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/pdf/US-MedicalEthicsReport.pdf.

50.

Kraemer

The fragile male. BMJ, 2000; 321:1609–1612.