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Circumcision, the ultimate parenting dilemma

Matt - Wed, 2012-08-22 00:45

Article here. Excerpt:

'While Europe increasingly questions the practice of circumcising boys, US paediatricians are about to say that the medical case for it is getting stronger. Most US adult men are circumcised, but the number of newborns having the op is falling, and is now below 50% in some states - intensifying the dilemma for parents.
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Unlike in Europe - where rates are low, and circumcision is mostly confined to the Jewish and Muslim communities - circumcision is one of the most common operations in the US.

Three-quarters of American adult men are circumcised. There are over one million procedures each year, or around one every 30 seconds.

But rates are falling, as parents - like Stephen Box and his wife - are opting to break with tradition, and alongside this, an increasingly vocal anti-circumcision movement has emerged.
...
Take the most private part of the male body, add parenting rights, children's rights, disputed science, history, tradition and a dollop of religion, and you have the recipe for a controversy that will run and run.'