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Comment by sbinthree | Hacker News Reader

That circumcision is still practice is insane. What is the benefit of all of the aggressive moralizing that goes on towards all kinds gender and sex causes at this point, and yet first world genital mutilation of boys gets almost no attention while causing 14% of male SIDS. Do not care about religious freedoms at that point.

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I don’t think it’s really a religious issue at all, the religious practice happens outside of the hospital afaik.

When we were asked at my sons birth, it was definitely just something part of the standard operating procedure.

All sorts of benefits. Just because this particular just cause has no chance of getting off the ground because no politician is willing to put themselves in the crosshairs of pretty much all Jews AND Muslims and a large amount of Christian hangers-on (religious liberty advocates), doesn't mean that other causes without such formidable impediments are somehow moot.

EDIT:

I think I was unclear. I am NOT defending circumcision, I don't think it's defensible. I was responding to the parent poster, specifically this:

> What is the benefit of all of the aggressive moralizing that goes on towards all kinds gender and sex causes at this point, and yet...

I was trying to say that just because we can't get anywhere in banning male circumcision, doesn't mean that "all kinds gender and sex causes..." have no benefit.

Aren't the only benefits a slight decrease in STD transmission + easier cleaning of smegma? I think it remains mostly due to status quo bias. I can't imagine the medical community recommending another body modification with only two things that minor in favor of doing it.

Also, the STD transmission angle is suspect. Last I checked, a lot of it was based on studies out of Africa. There are lots of reasons to think that is apples to oranges. Comparing to other modern Western nations with a very low circumcision rate yields different conclusions.

Indeed. A study in Africa I read about halted the trial part way through on ethical grounds because the STI contraction rate in the circumcised cohort was so much lower. However I found no evidence that they had taken into account a healing penis wound causing less frequent (zero?) intercourse for this group.

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