Canadian Children's Rights Group Questions New Circumcision Policy

Article here. Excerpt:

'A just released policy on infant male circumcision by the Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) was judged today by the Children's Health & Human Rights Partnership (CHHRP) to be a step in the right direction, but was "nevertheless 'predictably inadequate' with respect to several specific issues."

CHHRP Medical Director Dr. Christopher Guest, MD, FRCPC, said the new policy is consistent with international paediatric associations that affirm infant boys should not have their healthy foreskins routinely removed.

Citing the position of the CPS that recognizes the unique sensory functions of the male foreskin, Dr. Guest asserted that, "A growing number of medical associations now recognize that an intact penis with a foreskin contributes to sexual pleasure for the male and his partner." According to Guest, in 2010 the Royal Dutch Medical Association concluded, "the foreskin is a complex erotogenic structure that plays an important role in the mechanical function of the penis during sexual acts."

"Circumcision alters the structure of the penis, which inevitably alters function. Long term harm to men from infant circumcision has never been studied" Guest said. Despite this, Guest says men are reporting long-term adverse consequences at the Canadian-based online Global Survey of Circumcision Harm. Although the CPS failed to include it, Guest says scientific evidence has emerged that supports these men's claims. In 2011, Dr. Morton Frisch published findings in the International Journal of Epidemiology showing that in Denmark, where circumcision is rare, 'circumcision was associated with frequent orgasm difficulties in Danish men and with a range of frequent sexual difficulties in their female partners, notably orgasm difficulties, dyspareunia [difficult or painful sexual intercourse] and a sense of incomplete needs fulfilment.''