Circumcision in America

(6)

This brings (being gassed here - lung gas - b 3 1 at 1951) us naturally to the subject of the circumcision of America, most of which seems to have been done between the end of WWII and about 1995 or so. It seems that I cannot escape this. I have decided to do only a small quotation from the book, Circumcision: an American Health Fallacy (by Edward Wallerstein - a Jew).

The following quotation is taken from the beginning of chapter 1:

'During the past year more that 1 1/4 American males underwent surgury - without ansthesia - within the first few days after birth. The operation was circumcision, the cutting off of the foreskin, the sleeve of flesh which covers the head or glans of the penis... This volume of surgury makes it not only the most frequently performed elective operation, but also the only one done on an almost routine basis. It is performed on about 9 out of 10 newborn males.

'This surgury to the newborn is a uniquely American medical phenomenon. No other country follows this practice, except where the operation is a religious ritual or puberty rite.

'Early in the twentieth century, all English-speaking countries began to practice newborn circumcision, although none did it to the degree that the United States did. Since the 1950s the incidence of its performance in Canada and Australia has diminished and in England it has been almost totally abandoned.

'Scientists have expressed wonder at the acceptance of newborn circumcision by English-speaking countries and the continuation of the practice only in the United States. No one has attempted to explain this strange state of affairs.'