IA: Thanks to your support, we reached our goal

Later this week, members of the Intact America staff, along with intactivists from around the country, will arrive in New Orleans to protest outside the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, where the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) will be hosting its annual convention, and formally announcing its new Task Force Report on Circumcision.

Why are we outside this year, and not inside? Because we’ve been barred from the convention’s exhibit hall by the AAP.

As you know, every year since its inception, Intact America has had a booth inside the AAP’s annual convention. To get more bang for our buck, we linked up with the National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers (NOCIRC). As our profile became more and more visible and our position became more and more threatening to the AAP, we fully anticipated that the AAP would try to silence us; we just didn’t know how.

Intact America is planning a major press conference as well as a demonstration outside the Convention Center, because we know the AAP is scared, and rightly so—their pro-circumcision stance is finally exposed for its self-interest and lack of ethics, and it is creating a storm of public criticism and disgust. They took the gloves off when they published that report, and if we want the intactivist movement to prevail, we have to be ready to fight.

Immediately following the release of the Task Force Report, YOU—Intact America supporters—took action through the Intact America website, and sent a total of nearly 100,000 (yes, one hundred thousand!) emails to AAP’s elected leadership, senior staff, and Task Force members. Thousands of intactivists posted comments on the AAP’s own Facebook page, criticizing the organization for ignoring medical ethics and promoting unnecessary, painful surgery on baby boys who cannot consent. And the “AAP-NO ETHICS” project was incredibly powerful, and it sparked the idea for Intact America’s new “I Did Not Consent” message—which will be on full display this weekend in New Orleans.

Then, my article lambasting the Task Force Report was published in the Huffington Post, and—a few days later—IA received a letter saying that we would not be welcome in the exhibit hall of the convention.

By barring Intact America from the conference exhibit hall, the AAP has shown the world that it’s frightened of us! This is a great opportunity to STEP UP our protest. We are investing your donations, as well as the refunded money from the booth, in more advertising to the public, to parents, and to doctors by placing Open Letters in both the New Orleans and Baton Rouge newspapers, and in a whole new slew of signs, banners, and media outreach strategies.

Thanks to your generosity, we exceeded our goal ahead of our deadline—raising $19,211 and thus securing the matching gift from Dan Bollinger. We raised almost $30,000 in only six days. This is testament to the dedication and generosity of our supporters!

As good as it was to be at the conference in the past, we now have ways of reaching MORE people than ever before. This weekend, we’ll be in New Orleans as doctors enter and leave the Convention Center, handing out informational flyers, sharing our analysis of the Task Force Report, and inviting them to speak with us about how the AAP is misleading and misinforming them.

We also hope as many as people as possible show up at the demonstration. Intact America is only one of several groups who’ll be there representing the intactivist movement. Now is the time for us to band together and tell the AAP, “Shame on you for trying to silence us! Shame on you for supporting the mutilation of baby boys! Shame on you for promoting doctors’ financial interests instead of the rights of babies you took an oath to protect!”

To all of Intact America’s supporters: THANK YOU SO MUCH.

Now let’s go to New Orleans and save some babies!

With gratitude and respect,

Georganne Chapin
Executive Director, Intact America
www.intactamerica.org

P.S. We reached our goal for this fundraiser, but Intact America needs your help in an ongoing way. The circumcision rate is falling, but—still—this year, one million baby boys will lose their foreskins to an unethical surgery to which they cannot consent. Please consider becoming an Intact America Sustainer, so that we can count on you in our continuing fight to protect babies’ bodies and babies' rights.