The Time To Rethink Male Circumcision Is Now, Group Says In Launching www.intacta...( REMOVAL OF HEALTHY FUNCTIONING TISSUE...),Health

REMOVAL OF HEALTHY FUNCTIONING TISSUE VIOLATES MEDICAL ETHICS, HUMAN RIGHTS OF BABY BOYS WHO CANNOT GIVE INFORMED CONSENT

NEW YORK, June 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Parents, pediatricians and health and human rights activists today announced the launch of INTACT AMERICA and its website -- www.intactamerica.org -- to change how America thinks about male circumcision. The national campaign argues that painful and medically unnecessary surgery to remove healthy genital tissue from non-consenting baby boys violates medical ethics and human rights.

They were joined by Soraya Mire, the Somali filmmaker who is a global leader in the fight against forced female circumcision.

"The same universal human right to an intact body that I have fought for on behalf of women and girls must apply to boys as well, especially those too young to make an informed decision about the integrity of their bodies," said Mire. "How can it be wrong to surgically alter the genitals of a baby girl without her consent but okay to surgically alter the genitals of a baby boy?"

The launch comes as the Centers for Disease Control considers whether to recommend circumcision based on African studies of adult males and the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

"Studies of adult men in Africa cannot be used to justify subjecting non-consenting American baby boys to irreversible surgery that will remove healthy tissue from their genitals for the rest of their lives," said Georganne Chapin, Intact America's Executive Director. "Let young men make decisions about their own bodies, when they reach an age to understand the risks and consequences."

"Before subjecting their newborn sons to painful, risky, irreversible and medically unnecessary genital surgery, parents should ask if they would do the same to their daughters," said Chapin.

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