Colorado lawmaker jokes about reducing boys' sexual pleasure to prevent teen pregnancy

From Marc A.:

Imagine if a male lawmaker joked about reducing girls' sexual pleasure by removing their clitoral foreskins in order to combat teen pregnancy and "female irresponsibility." The media would be covering it and that lawmaker would have to publicly apologize. Well that is exactly what Colorado lawmaker Sue Schafer, D-Wheat Ridge (sue.schafer.house-at-state.co.us) publicly said about boys in a hearing on whether to reestablish MediCaid funding for male circumcision. The bill failed. But the laughter about reducing male sexual pleasure through male genital mutilation is sexist and unacceptable.

"One lawmaker, Rep. Sue Schafer, D-Wheat Ridge, elicited laughter in the hearing room when she asked Dr. Johnson if circumcision might help reduce teen pregnancy rates and teen sexual activity by reducing nerve sensation in boys’ penises. “I’m wondering if there’s a risk of more sexual activity, more male irresponsibility” for uncircumcised boys, Schafer asked. Johnson answered that teen pregnancy is certainly a problem, but said circumcision won’t halt teen sexual activity. “Circumcision is not a cure for behavior. That’s about education,” she said. She and others also testified that cutting off infant babies’ body parts is not the way to prevent urinary tract infections. She said she’s treated plenty of babies for infections and antibiotics are an easy answer.

“You don’t cut off part of a healthy penis to treat urinary tract infections,” Johnson said.
http://www.healthpolicysolutions.org/2012/05/05/circumcision-bill-dies-in-colorado-house/

The Swedish Paediatric Society has rightfully called infant male circumcision an assault on boys. http://m.thelocal.se/39200/20120219/

The male foreskin is a highly innervated erogenous organ that is dense with specialized mucosa and over 20,000 high sensory nerve endings. It also acts as a natural buffer and lubricant during sex. Researching using fine-touch medical instruments shows it is the most sensitive part of the penis. http://www.livescience.com/health/070615_penis_sensitivity.html

A recent study in Denmark found circumcised men have a much higher rate of sexual problems. http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/06/13/ije.dyr104.short?rss=1 Research also find circumcised men are five times more likely to suffer from premature ejaculation. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21492404

And a recent report by the Dutch Medical Association, representing 46,000 physicians and medical students and backed by seven other medical associations, explains that the male foreskin is an important erotogenic structure for which no medical benefit justifies its routine removal, that it is comparable to certain forms of FGM, and that it violates children's rights to bodily integrity. http://www.norm-uk.org/news.html?action=showitem&item=1306

Sue Schafer should woman up and publicly apologize for her sexist comments about males. Both boys and girls are responsible for teen pregnancy, which should more accurately be called teen parenthood. To target one sex and joke about reducing their sexual pleasure through genital mutilation is outrageous.