Filmmaker Brendon Marotta, director of the upcoming movie “American Circumcision,” has very generously worked with ARC to prepare a release by Gotnews.com of an audio clip from October 19, 2013, the second day of the Charleston, South Carolina debate between J. Steven Svoboda and Dr. Michael Brady of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The audio clip demonstrates that the AAP has lied in the past when claiming that circumcision does not reduce sexual sensation in the penis.

The moderator referred to below is Dr. Robert Sade, who organized the Twentieth Pitts Lectureship in Medical Ethics, held on October 18-19, 2013 at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, in which Dr. Brady effectively conceded defeat on the second day, stating that he was unable to respond to any of our arguments.

Dr. Sade also guest edited the issue of the Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics in which the proceedings of the event were published including the article by Svoboda, Peter W. Adler, and Robert S. Van Howe, titled, “Circumcision is Unethical and Unlawful“. Two other physicians on the Charleston panel told Svoboda that they changed their positions to pro-intact based on the evidence we presented.

Steven Svoboda

Attorneys for the Rights of the Child

arc@post.harvard.edu

BREAKING: Leaked Audio Shows Doctors’ Association LYING About Effects Of Circumcision On The Penis

Written by Brendon Marotta, director of the upcoming documentary film ‘American Circumcision.’

Leaked audio from a panel at the 2013 Pitts Lectureship in Medical Ethics at the Medical University of South Carolina reveals that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) knows circumcision reduces sexual feeling in the penis, contradicting their public position.

The physicians’ group has previously said that circumcision does not affect sexual sensation. Now, at a private meeting featuring members of the American Academy of Pediatrics task force on circumcision, a moderator states circumcision does reduce sensitivity, and that “reduction of sensation is very valuable to many men” because it might allow them to last longer in bed. Take a listen yourself:

Angel Alonso, an intact i.e. uncircumcised man in the audience, replies that lasting longer in bed is something men can work on, and points out the contradiction: how can the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) say publicly that circumcision does not reduce sensation, and privately that reduction of sensation is one of the benefits?

This audio comes from the open comment period of the conference, where Dr. Michael Brady and Douglas Diekema of the AAP task force on circumcision spoke with Steven Svoboda from Attorney’s for the Rights of the Child, and several other human rights activists. One of the human rights activists was asked to film the conference, but their camera was shut off after the first day. Thankfully, audio was still running, and this recording was obtained by the documentary film American Circumcision.

Although the moderator is not a member of the circumcision task force, none of the AAP task force members present correct him, and they later argue against the intact man present. Publicly the AAP tells parents that circumcision has no effect on sensation, but privately, doctors acknowledge it does:

“The reduction of sensation is very valuable to many men and I’m not saying to all men but to many men, it is. The issue is not the degree of sensitivity, it’s not the presence or absence of… of sensitive tissue. It’s degree of satisfaction in people who are able to make the decision for themselves. So… so, you know, I think… I think it’s beside the point to talk about loss of sensitive tissue.”

Are men okay with a “loss of sensitive tissue,” or are they just not aware their sensation has been reduced, because physicians groups like the AAP publicly tell them the opposite?

Unfortunately for the AAP, many men are not okay with it. There were large protests at the American Academy of Pediatrics conference less then a month ago, where the AAP received significant pressure from human rights groups for continuing to remove “sensitive tissue” from non-consenting minors.

Doctor are required to give patients informed consent, which includes telling the patient any information a reasonable person might want to know about a procedure. If a procedure made you or your child lose sensitive tissue, wouldn’t you want to know?

Would parents want their children circumcised if they knew that doctors said it reduced sexual sensation?

Do men actually want their penis to feel less?

Written by Brendon Marotta, director of the upcoming documentary film ‘American Circumcision.’