The U.S.
circumcision rate declined 11.4 percent over two years, says the National
Center for Health Statistics. It dropped from 63.1 percent in 2001 to 55.9
percent in 2003.
There has been
a slow, steady decline in the procedure, which involves the surgical removal
of the foreskin of the penis, over the past 25 years. "Medicalized, mass
circumcision of infants is a uniquely English-speaking phenomenon," says
Dan Bollinger of the International Coalition for Genital Integrity, an
anti-circumcision advocacy group based in West Lafayette, Ind.
He says Canada,
Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom formerly circumcised the
majority of infant boys, but have either abandoned the practice or reduced
the rate.
--
Copyright 2005 by United
Press International.
All rights reserved.
--
|