# American Academy of Pediatrics Now Says Circumcision's Benefits Outweigh Risks
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-academy-of-pediatrics-now-says-circumcisions-benefits-outweigh-risks/632857
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [August 27, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-academy-of-pediatrics-now-says-circumcisions-benefits-outweigh-risks/632857 "2012-08-27T21:04:17Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@moejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejoe)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-academy-of-pediatrics-now-says-circumcisions-benefits-outweigh-risks/632857/21 "2012-08-28T15:28:03Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> When I saw the article in the newspaper a day or two ago, I of course immediately thought of the SDMB and the heated (on the part of a few posters with a bee in their bonnet) threads that have come up here.
>
> What I took away from the article is, not _Now they’re saying circumcision is a good thing and everyone should do it_, but _There are legitimate medical reasons to circumcize boys, so parents who choose to have their baby boys circumcized have made a reasonable choice._ They’re not evil; and it’s not just a matter of religion or custom.
What I take away from this is that the procedure should be covered by insurance, which it hasn’t been for years now.
---
### Author:  [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-academy-of-pediatrics-now-says-circumcisions-benefits-outweigh-risks/632857/22 "2012-08-28T15:30:56Z")
> [@Malthus](#):
>
> Not half as odd as your post. 😃
>
> What your response has to do with the prevelence of penile cancer I cannot imagine.
That’s okay. I don’t understand your belief that teaching kids to bathe won’t prevent
penis cancer, which it does far more effectively than cutting _might._
---
### Author:  [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-academy-of-pediatrics-now-says-circumcisions-benefits-outweigh-risks/632857/23 "2012-08-28T15:42:20Z")
> [@levdrakon](#):
>
> That’s okay. I don’t understand your belief that teaching kids to bathe won’t prevent
> penis cancer, which it does far more effectively than cutting _might._
My “belief” is based on the scientific evidence I have quoted upthread, endorsed as the official policy of the American Acadamy of Pediatrics.
What’s yours based on?
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### Author:  [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-academy-of-pediatrics-now-says-circumcisions-benefits-outweigh-risks/632857/24 "2012-08-28T15:43:42Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#):
>
> I do wonder…how may of the American Academy of Pediatrics are Jewish?
Why do you wonder that?
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### Author:  [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-academy-of-pediatrics-now-says-circumcisions-benefits-outweigh-risks/632857/25 "2012-08-28T15:45:34Z")
> [@Malthus](#):
>
> Why do you wonder that?
:dubious:
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### Author:  [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-academy-of-pediatrics-now-says-circumcisions-benefits-outweigh-risks/632857/26 "2012-08-28T15:50:42Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#):
>
> It’s a tad academic since I have no children nor plans to acquire them in the future, but if my hypothetical child wanted to benefit from the reduced STD risks of a circumcised penis, I will leave that to him to decide as an adult regardless of what this study purports.
Leaving it up to the child is a complete non-starter. No grown man is going to voluntarily ask a doctor to snip off the end of his penis unless there’s a bomb attached to it. Guys would rather live with the risk of catching a disease than volunteer for circumcision. I’m grateful that my parents didn’t leave me with such a terrible choice.
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### Author:  [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-academy-of-pediatrics-now-says-circumcisions-benefits-outweigh-risks/632857/27 "2012-08-28T15:55:51Z")
> [@Malthus](#):
>
> My “belief” is based on the scientific evidence I have quoted upthread, endorsed as the official policy of the American Acadamy of Pediatrics.
>
> What’s yours based on?
Oh, the very same science, and scientists will tell you, based on science, that living in the US and taking a shower once in awhile will prevent far more penile cancers than cutting prevents. And once again, you can cut off a boy’s nipples safely and he’ll never suffer the horror and ravages of nipple cancer but c’mon. Who are you kidding? You’re rationalizing superstitious body modification on helpless infants.
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### Author:  [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-academy-of-pediatrics-now-says-circumcisions-benefits-outweigh-risks/632857/28 "2012-08-28T15:57:13Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#):
>
> :dubious:
I ask again - why do you wonder that?
Because the only reason I can think of is the assumption that Jewish physicans would allow their ethnic/religious background to influence the science, which is a pretty unpleasant accusation.
My appologies if you wondered for some other reason.
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### Author:  [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-academy-of-pediatrics-now-says-circumcisions-benefits-outweigh-risks/632857/29 "2012-08-28T15:59:31Z")
> [@levdrakon](#):
>
> Oh, the very same science, and scientists will tell you, based on science, that living in the US and taking a shower once in awhile will prevent far more penile cancers than cutting prevents. And once again, you can cut off a boy’s nipples safely and he’ll never suffer the horror and ravages of nipple cancer but c’mon. Who are you kidding? You’re rationalizing superstitious body modification on helpless infants.
I’m doing nothing. I am merely reporting on what the scientists have said in this report.
If you want to cast aspersions, do it at them, not me.
---
### Author:  [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-academy-of-pediatrics-now-says-circumcisions-benefits-outweigh-risks/632857/30 "2012-08-28T16:01:07Z")
> [@Malthus](#):
>
> I ask again - why do you wonder that?
>
> Because the only reason I can think of is the assumption that Jewish physicans would allow their ethnic/religious background to influence the science, which is a pretty unpleasant accusation.
>
> My appologies if you wondered for some other reason.
That’s exactly my…hm, ‘accusation’ isn’t the right term. Let’s go with ‘assertion’. It’s the nature of those with religious beliefs to promote the legitimacy of their beliefs.
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### Author:  [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-academy-of-pediatrics-now-says-circumcisions-benefits-outweigh-risks/632857/31 "2012-08-28T16:12:25Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#):
>
> That’s exactly my…hm, ‘accusation’ isn’t the right term. Let’s go with ‘assertion’. It’s the nature of those with religious beliefs to promote the legitimacy of their beliefs.
You misunderstand the role of circumcision in Judaism for a start.
Circumcision in Judaism is, essentially, a tribal marking - a physical sign of the “covenant” between Jews and their God. It is a sign of distinction.
Jews have no religious interest whatsoever in promoting circumcision generally in the population.
Moreover, I would say it is pretty harsh to “assert” that Jews are likely as a group to allow their religious beliefs (to the extent they have any - many Jews are atheists) to overcome their scientific objectivity and cause them to publish untruths.
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### Author:  [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-academy-of-pediatrics-now-says-circumcisions-benefits-outweigh-risks/632857/32 "2012-08-28T16:12:29Z")
> [@Malthus](#):
>
> I’m doing nothing. I am merely reporting on what the scientists have said in this report.
>
> If you want to cast aspersions, do it at them, not me.
Well, take the time to think critically about what you are reporting. “Benefits outweigh risks! It’s recommended!” is false. They are saying the risks, in their heavily financially invested and biased opinion, aren’t great enough to stop making millions per year doing it for parents who want it. Most importantly, is that it should be a covered benefit so government funds will pay for it.
---
### Author:  [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-academy-of-pediatrics-now-says-circumcisions-benefits-outweigh-risks/632857/33 "2012-08-28T16:15:15Z")
> [@Malthus](#):
>
> You misunderstand the role of circumcision in Judaism for a start.
>
> Circumcision in Judaism is, essentially, a tribal marking - a physical sign of the “covenant” between Jews and their God. It is a sign of distinction.
>
> \*\*Jews have no religious interest whatsoever in promoting circumcision generally in the population. \*\*
> Moreover, I would say it is pretty harsh to “assert” that Jews are likely as a group to allow their religious beliefs (to the extent they have any - many Jews are atheists) to overcome their scientific objectivity and cause them to publish untruths.
Of course they do; if circumcision is accepted by the general population as necessary, justified, and routine, then the ritual mutilation of infants can be masked in an obfuscation of medical necessity.
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### Author:  [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-academy-of-pediatrics-now-says-circumcisions-benefits-outweigh-risks/632857/34 "2012-08-28T16:16:19Z")
> [@levdrakon](#):
>
> Well, take the time to think critically about what you are reporting. “Benefits outweigh risks! It’s recommended!” is false. They are saying the risks, in their heavily financially invested and biased opinion, aren’t great enough to stop making millions per year doing it for parents who want it. Most importantly, is that it should be a covered benefit so government funds will pay for it.
It is amusing to see the range of biases attributed to the authors of this report in this thread, in an attempt to discredit the science.
Either they are possibly unreliable Jews, or they are grasping for insurance money.
What were they in 1999, when they _didn’t_ recommend the procedure be paid for? Non-Jews? Less grasping?
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### Author:  [@Dr.Crap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Crap)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-academy-of-pediatrics-now-says-circumcisions-benefits-outweigh-risks/632857/35 "2012-08-28T16:19:57Z")
How do I get these unseemly stretch marks off my foreskin?
---
### Author:  [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-academy-of-pediatrics-now-says-circumcisions-benefits-outweigh-risks/632857/36 "2012-08-28T16:32:02Z")
> [@Malthus](#):
>
> It is amusing to see the range of biases attributed to the authors of this report in this thread, in an attempt to discredit the science.
>
> Either they are possibly unreliable Jews, or they are grasping for insurance money.
>
> What were they in 1999, when they _didn’t_ recommend the procedure be paid for? Non-Jews? Less grasping?
Honest and enlightened. Money talks, honesty conforms to the letter of business law.
As for the Jewish thing, in these threads it’s always going to come up. The cock cutters are just waiting for an anti-Semite loony to show up so they can pounce on that and divert attention from their own magically proclaimed need to cut cock.
Circumcision is based on Judaism. That is indisputable fact. Islam picked it up, and Christians mainly in the US picked up from Judaism, and in more recent times (early last century?) from (often Jewish) doctors who convinced them that rather for religious reasons, cutting prevents all sorts of “disease” and promotes “hygiene (maybe it did back then)” prevents masturbation (which every good science-oriented Christian doctor at the time thought was a sin), homosexuality, and a whole list other stupid shit long since debunked.
I love Jewish people. They’re great! I’m not giving them a pass on cutting any more than I’ll let Christians or Muslims beat and rape women and children. Out with the old-fashioned stupid stuff, and keep the good things up with the rest of civilization.
---
### Author:  [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-academy-of-pediatrics-now-says-circumcisions-benefits-outweigh-risks/632857/37 "2012-08-28T16:55:19Z")
I don’t think we can come to any valid conclusions about the risks of male circumcision without years of more data. Maybe another millennium or two would suffice?
---
### Author:  [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-academy-of-pediatrics-now-says-circumcisions-benefits-outweigh-risks/632857/38 "2012-08-28T17:01:36Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#):
>
> Of course they do; if circumcision is accepted by the general population as necessary, justified, and routine, then the ritual mutilation of infants can be masked in an obfuscation of medical necessity.
Again, where were these conspiring Jewish doctors in 1999? Has there been a sudden infusion of Jews into the ranks of pediatric physicians since? 😃
---
### Author:  [@Dr\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Doom)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-academy-of-pediatrics-now-says-circumcisions-benefits-outweigh-risks/632857/39 "2012-08-28T17:05:18Z")
> [@Simple\_Linctus](#):
>
> That is what a sensible parent would choose to do.
I would like to know where I can find the handbook detailing how I might become a “sensible parent”.
Is there a “sensible parent” organization of which I’ve not heard?
Did I miss some kind of “sensible parent” training because of that time I had the flu 30 years ago?
---
### Author:  [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-academy-of-pediatrics-now-says-circumcisions-benefits-outweigh-risks/632857/40 "2012-08-28T17:06:21Z")
> [@levdrakon](#):
>
> Honest and enlightened. Money talks, honesty conforms to the letter of business law.
>
> As for the Jewish thing, in these threads it’s always going to come up. The cock cutters are just waiting for an anti-Semite loony to show up so they can pounce on that and divert attention from their own magically proclaimed need to cut cock.
>
> Circumcision is based on Judaism. That is indisputable fact. Islam picked it up, and Christians mainly in the US picked up from Judaism, and in more recent times (early last century?) from (often Jewish) doctors who convinced them that rather for religious reasons, cutting prevents all sorts of “disease” and promotes “hygiene (maybe it did back then)” prevents masturbation (which every good science-oriented Christian doctor at the time thought was a sin), homosexuality, and a whole list other stupid shit long since debunked.
>
> I love Jewish people. They’re great! I’m not giving them a pass on cutting any more than I’ll let Christians or Muslims beat and rape women and children. Out with the old-fashioned stupid stuff, and keep the good things up with the rest of civilization.
Heh, you haven’t addressed the point in your rather bizzare rant about magical cock-cutters 😃 - namely, if the science in this report is all about conspiring Jews and grasping, venal physicians - why did this same group have a different opinion way back in the mists of time (namely, 1999?) Has the nature of physicians changed in the last couple of decades? Grown more venal, or perhaps, more Jewish?
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