The International Medical News Group is reporting that circumcision rates for newborn boys in the United States dropped "steadily and markedly" over the past 4 years, based on the largest review of U.S. rates ever done.
According to the review, reported by Dr. Charbel El Bcheraoui at the 18th International AIDS Conference, circumcision rates fell from 56% in 2006 to 33% in 2009.
The review included more than 6.5 million U.S. newborn boys during the period.
The dramatic decline in circumcision rates during 2006-2009 continued a trend that began in the United States earlier in the decade, although the fall appeared to accelerate recently, he said. Bcheraoui, an epidemic intelligence service officer in the division of HIV/AIDS prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, attributes the circumcision surgery drop to a 1999 statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics that said existing data is not sufficient to recommend newborn male circumcision.
Another factor may be that following the AAP statement, states like Minnesota began to withdraw Medicaid coverage of newborn male circumcision.
Danelle Frisbie of the Peaceful Parenting site points out:
"Another factor is the increased spread and availability of accurate information available to parents and physicians via awareness raising groups such as Doctors Opposing Circumcision, the National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers, the Circumcision Information Resource Pages, Intact America, DrMomma.org, the MGM Bill, NOHARMM, and similar organizations.
In addition, many scholarly books examining circumcision were published in the U.S. in the last several years. When parents are fully informed on all aspects of the purposes of the prepuce, circumcision, and the intact male, they do not elect to amputate this organ from their healthy newborns."
Bcheraoui's study used data from the largest U.S. consolidator of electronic health care reimbursement claims, which included data on 117 million unique U.S. patients annually undergoing short hospital stays, and data from more than 800,000 unique U.S. health care providers. In this database, 2,834,849 newborn boys underwent circumcision during 2006-2009.
In general, Midwestern states and some Southern states had the highest rates of circumcision, while Western states had the lowest rates. In Minnesota, the rate is in the range of between 25% and 50%.
According to Peaceful Parenting, the circumcision rate worldwide among other developed nations is approximately .3%, with 99.7% of baby boys left intact.
Comments
That's fantastic news. More and more people will get to experience all of their body as nature intended, and not just the parts their parents decide to keep. The 50% of the genital skin which is lost is the most erotically responsive. Now, perhaps more medical money will be going to solve actual medical problems. Nobody needs a blinding flash of pain, as their welcome to the world present. Circumcision is a hoax, a false promise of protection, and I am glad to see that less and less parents are falling for it. We circumcised one son on the advice of three doctors who were mistaken, and left the other one intact. He thanked us.
Time will tell if this is a good thing or not.
Time already told it, since the begining of humanity. Being intact is better than being mutilated.
My opinion... but I think the internet has much to do with the dramatic decline in the circ rate in recent years. Circumcision is a difficult topic.. religion, privacy, guilt, regret. Some researchers postilate post traumatic stress of the event contributes to people not liking to talk about it... but on the net people can exchange information anonymously (see above) if they like. The information began to flow.. Helped along by brave and outspoken leaders such as Marilyn Milos, it has picked up steam to where now the horse is out of the barn. Thank goodness for our next generation of boys and girls.
I think 9/11 opened up a lot of minds into figuring out what could cause a "peaseful " religion to develope such high rates of psychotic behavior, which in turn opened our eyes to the correlating psychological damage and effects we are causing in our own society as well. Sexually traumatised infants and children is the common link in causing Dealed PTSD to surface after puberty in forms such as mass murder/ suicidal psychosis.
It's really hard to tell if you are being sarcastic (which I hope for your sake and the sake of all human intelligence, you are...) But that has to be one of the most idiotic conspiracy theorist based, hate rhetoric I have ever heard spilled from the mouth of a human being.... Well, maybe not the most, but that statement is just stupid! Do me a favor and take a meat cleaver to your genitals.
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