Male Genital Mutilation Resolution
(The Be It Resolved section of this resolution is borrowed from the Declaration of the First International Symposium on Circumcision at
http://www.nocirc.org/declare.php ):
WHEREAS genital mutilation of children, regardless of gender, is a violation of human rights;
WHEREAS genital mutilation in the form of circumcision continues to be performed on millions of male children in hospitals and ceremonies, despite overwhelming evidence documenting its harmful physical and emotional effects;
WHEREAS other damaging forms of male genital cutting including subincision, superincision, skin stripping, and castration continue to be performed in certain world regions; and
WHEREAS progress to end male genital mutilation will only be achieved through widespread and forceful public condemnation,
BE IT RESOLVED that we recognize the inherent right of all human beings to an intact body. Without religious or racial prejudice, we affirm this basic human right.
We recognize that the foreskin, clitoris and labia are normal, functional body parts.
Parents and/or guardians do not have the right to consent to the surgical removal or modification of their children's normal genitalia.
Physicians and other health care providers have a responsibility to refuse to remove or mutilate normal body parts.
The only persons who may consent to medically unnecessary procedures upon themselves are the individuals who have reached the age of consent (adulthood), and then only after being fully informed about the risks and benefits of the procedure.
We categorically state that circumcision has unrecognized victims.
In view of the serious physical and psychological consequences that we have witnessed in victims of circumcision, we hereby oppose the performance of a single additional unnecessary foreskin, clitoral, or labial amputation procedure.
We oppose any further studies which involve the performance of the circumcision procedure upon unconsenting minors. We support any further studies which involve identification of the effects of circumcision.
Physicians and other health care providers do have a responsibility to teach hygiene and the care of normal body parts and explain their normal anatomical and physiological development and function throughout life.
We place the medical community on notice that it is being held accountable for misconstruing the scientific database available on human circumcision in the world today.
Physicians who practice routine circumcisions are violating the first maxim of medical practice, "Primum Non Nocere," "First, Do No Harm," and anyone practicing genital mutilation is violating Article V of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment..."
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that states have an obligation under international standards to pass legislation prohibiting forced and coerced genital cutting, and to adopt clear policies and concrete measures aimed at eradicating genital mutilation of children.
MGM Bill Endorsement Resolution
WHEREAS genital mutilation of children, regardless of gender, is a violation of human rights;
WHEREAS genital mutilation in the form of circumcision continues to be performed on more than one million male infants annually in hospitals and religious ceremonies in the USA despite overwhelming evidence documenting its harmful physical and emotional effects; and
WHEREAS progress to end male genital mutilation will only be achieved through widespread and forceful public condemnation,
BE IT RESOLVED that we wholly endorse the attached U.S. and California MGM Bill proposals so that all children in the USA and the State of California will be legally protected from the harmful practice of genital mutilation, regardless of gender, and to send a message to other countries and states that forced genital cutting of minors is a practice that will no longer be tolerated.
(The referenced MGM Bills - which also legally protect girls and intersex children from genital cutting - are available at
http://www.mgmbill.org/usmgmbill.htm#usbillstart and
http://www.mgmbill.org/camgmbill.htm#cabillstart
-Matthew |