Proposal to ban circumcision in San Francisco

Suzi wrote:So much for personal freedom. Why bother with the US constitution if little by little rights are chipped away. Actually right now they are being hacked away at a horrendous rate. Wisconsin, Michigan, outlaw certain foods , and parental rights.

It doesn't say that you have the right to cut off parts of your child in the constitution.

I actually agree with you about some of our rights and think that people need to wake up and realize that history repeats itself and the more comfortable we become the more we will ignore our rights being stripped away.

However, children have been under served as far as protection of THEIR rights, imo. They are not our property, they are people.

"Rights" do not mean we can do anything we want at will. We as parents are supposed to protect our kids & act in their best interest. Sometimes that gets screwed up but we learn & correct the mistakes we can correct. But there is no "do over" in circumcision. I understand it used to be standard practice but a lot of things were standard practice. That doesn't mean it was ever right. It was a mistake that became commonplace in the US.

I don't even see how this can be thought of as a right. It isn't our right to make a permanent decision about an unnecessary procedure. As far as "religion" goes, if religion is telling me to hack off part of my kid, I'm looking for a different one.

Suzi wrote:I'm amazed how attached men are to that extra skin. Our son was circumcised routinely 50 years ago. He says he is glad it was done.

My husband was routinely circumcised 40 years ago and is not glad it was done, because he knows what was taken away from him without his consent.

The adult male foreskin is roughly the size of a 3 X 5 index card. It's loaded with nerve endings and blood vessels and is there primarily to protect the penile head (glans). The glans in an intact penis is moist and smooth, like gum tissue. The glans in a circumcised penis is dry and toughened.

And anyway...I'm pretty attached to my own body parts. Aren't you?

You can read The Case Against Circumcision if you are interested in the purpose of this body part.

You seem to lack the ability to put yourself in somebody else's shoes, Suzi.

It's not even that serious. Next they will try to place bans on parents having their children baptized. Where does this end?

It is to the one being circumcised. A baptism doesn't leave a permanent physical mark on the person. Growing up southern baptist I was mandatory baptized at 12. The water dried. I got over it. It should be up to the male whether or not he wants to be circumcised. It's one thing for parents to have "rights" but there should also be some boundaries.

CeCe wrote:It is to the one being circumcised. A baptism doesn't leave a permanent physical mark on the person. Growing up southern baptist I was mandatory baptized at 12. The water dried. I got over it. It should be up to the male whether or not he wants to be circumcised. It's one thing for parents to have "rights" but there should also be some boundaries.

I too was baptised at 12. Even at that age a kid should not make decision that won't dry off and blow away.

Jason B. wrote:It's not even that serious. Next they will try to place bans on parents having their children baptized. Where does this end?

It ends when people stop abusing their children in the name of the flying spaghetti monster! Practice religion all you want. When your religion tells you to start cutting body parts off of innocent babies, it's time for the law to step in!

Such a measure will NEVER pass.

stonestatic wrote:Such a measure will NEVER pass.

I'd say that it's unlikely to pass anytime soon. But I never say NEVER! Circumcision is NOT nearly as popular as it once was and fewer and fewer people are for it today. That is likely a trend that will continue in that direction so this is really just the first step. As more and more people become educated on the facts, eventually the majority of people in the US will adopt a European mentality about it. This proposal won't change the world overnight, but it will lead to another proposal, then eventually an approved bill, and then eventually new laws.