CHBC Okanagan Valley Television, A CanWest company, B.C. July 14, 2004
An Okanagan incident is being cited as new guidelines for BC doctors suggest that male circumcision may
amount to abuse. One paediatrician says the guidelines issued by the College of Physicians and Surgeons
could put a chill on doctors who perform the surgery. The college says routine infant male circumcision is
unnecessary and irreversible and many consider it to be an unwarranted mutilating procedure. The blood loss
death of a baby after a circumcision at Penticton Hospital two years ago raised a public outcry that led to
the new guidelines.
Male Genital Mutilation (MGM) Circumcision - Baby Boy Botched
VANCOUVER - A B.C. man who performed a botched circumcision
on his four-year-old son on the kitchen floor of his home has
lost an appeal of his conviction and been found guilty of a more
serious charge.
The B.C. Court of Appeal has stayed the man's conviction for
criminal negligence causing bodily harm and convicted him of
aggravated assault.
Court heard the boy was born premature at only 2.5 pounds and
could not be circumcised at the time, nor did his parents
request it.
CanadianCRC editor:
Anyone who states that urinary tract infections are common among newborn baby boys, and therefore
advocates that the genital mutilation of boys ( male circumcision) will stop urinary tract infections, is a liar or misinformed.
Besides, urinary tract infections are entirely treatable.
Men's Rights Commentary
Men's News Daily Online
Commentary on the David Reimer botched
circumcision / gender changed case
CanadianCRC editor's Note:
Reminder about our policy: Many sides of
an issue are expressed in articles on this website. Many articles contain
points of view which should be heard but are not the position of the
Canadian Children's Rights Council.
Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) are rare, and mainly occur in the first year of life. They are several times Read More ..
common in girls than boys (but of course surgery is never considered for girls).
They are painful, and women's experience of them is a powerful inducement to have sons circumcised, if they
imagine that this will protect them. In fact, a significant proportion of boys contract UTIs even though they are
circumcised. A study in Israel found they mainly occurred in girls at four months, but in boys soon after they were
circumcised.... Now an Australian study suggests circumcision may cause urinary problems.
Read More ..
Read what the medical
profession associations have to say on this issue
The BMA does not believe that parental preference alone constitutes sufficient
grounds for performing a surgical procedure on a child unable to express his own view. . . . Parental
preference must be weighed in terms of the child's interests. . . . The BMA considers that the
evidence concerning health benefit from non-therapeutic circumcision is insufficient for this alone to
be a justification for doing it. . . . Some doctors may wish to not perform circumcisions for reasons
of conscience. Doctors are under no obligation to comply with a request to circumcise a child.
Read More ..
Five-week-old infant died after he was circumcised at
Penticton hospital
THE PROVINCE Vancouver, British Columbia August
29, 2002
The Kamloops coroner is investigating the case of an infant who died last
week from complications following his circumcision at Penticton Regional Hospital.
The five-week-old child was released after the procedure last Tuesday morning,
but his parents went back to talk to the doctor later that day with concerns
about bleeding. They returned home, but the situation worsened overnight, forcing
them to rush the child back to hospital early Wednesday.
The infant was flown by air ambulance to Vancouver, where he died last Thursday
in B.C. Children's Hospital.
"It certainly seems to be unusual," coroner Ian McKichan said yesterday. "It's
definitely something that warrants an investigation, because it's a totally
unexpected sort of death."
Deaths following circumcision are almost unheard of, but like any operation,
bleeding and infection are the greatest dangers.
The case raises questions about an increasingly rare operation which stirs
controversy in some circles.
"The bottom line is that circumcision is becoming a less-common procedure,"
said Dr. Morris Van Andel, registrar of the College of Physicians and Surgeons
of B.C. "It's no longer an insured service -- it's considered an
option. That makes it all the Read More ..stressing when you hear about something
like this."
According to Penticton hospital officials, the operation to remove the foreskin
from the child's penis was conducted by a physician with 16 years' practice
in British Columbia.
