Why Is This Pediatrician Standing Up For Circumcision?

Posting Date: 05/22/2000

Sheryl: Our local weekly newspaper has an article about the pro-circumcision opinions of Dr. Edgar Schoen, a chief of pediatrics at Kaiser Medical Center.

Believe me, I don't want to alter my grandson who is due in two weeks, but the article makes a very convincing case. My daughter said, "Mom, now I don't know what to think."

text continues below

Visit the Circumcision Center

Dr. Dean: Edgar Schoen is the last man standing to claim that the benefits of circumcision outweigh the risks. He makes this claim in spite of policy statements to the contrary from medical groups around the world including the American Academy of Pediatrics, and associations of pediatricians in Australia and the United Kingdom.

One article may be convincing, but newspapers are not medical journals and it is the bulk of the evidence that counts.

No adult has the right to cut off a piece of a newborn child's body for any reason other than a proven medical need. As I've often said, major claims need major proof.

Some doctors do believe that a link exists between uncircumcised males and urinary tract infections. Even if there were a connection, systematically mutilating babies to prevent a benign, treatable infection makes no sense at all.

I applaud your daughter for her quest for information. She should go and watch a circumcision being done to decide if she wants to put her baby through one, and she should do some research online. The Internet, including Healthcentral.com, has lots of information on circumcision.

Circumcision rates are falling because after doing research, most sensible people decide against them.