The single most disturbing story I have read all month.

[BlueIris]

The American Academy of Pediatrics--yes, you read that correctly--has chosen to validate female genital mutilation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/health/policy/07cuts.html

I'm too disturbed to cut and paste much of the article here, so I'll just put the most salient comments from it instead:

“I am sure the academy had only good intentions, but what their recommendation has done is only create confusion about whether F.G.M. is acceptable in any form, and it is the wrong step forward on how best to protect young women and girls,” said Representative Joseph Crowley, Democrat of New York, who recently introduced a bill to toughen federal law by making it a crime to take a girl overseas to be circumcised. “F.G.M. serves no medical purpose, and it is rightfully banned in the U.S.”

*

Dr. Friedman Ross said that the committee members “oppose all types of female genital cutting that impose risks or physical or psychological harm,” and consider the ritual nick “a last resort,” but that the nick is “supposed to be as benign as getting a girl’s ears pierced. It’s taking a pin and creating a drop of blood.”

:mad:

*

Georganne Chapin, executive director of an advocacy group called Intact America, said she was “astonished that a group of intelligent people did not see the utter slippery slope that we put physicians on” with the new policy statement. “How much blood will parents be satisfied with?”

She added: “There are countries in the world that allow wife beating, slavery and child abuse, but we don’t allow people to practice those customs in this country. We don’t let people have slavery a little bit because they’re going to do it anyway, or beat their wives a little bit because they’re going to do it anyway.”

*

This is, quite frankly, an insane move on the part of the AAP. Insane. I'm beyond disgusted. I don't drink, but I'm tempted to go get a martini right about now. And weep for my country and its daughters.

[seabeyond]

1. just satisfy them with removing late term, with video of abortion vaginally

for shame and humiliation, with protecting doctor from telling mother of fetus health.....

appease the anti abortionists.

was my first thought.

allow those that are religiously opposed to not prescribe or fill a contraceptive order

shelf the rape kits, yet let the raped female feel something is being done

[ismnotwasm]

2. I saw that

A thread from yesterday. I asked about it from good friend of mine who deals with this population of women--she's beyond appalled. I participated in a thread yesterday--briefly--where members seemed to think this was a great idea.

My friend and I discussed several aspects of this. She could see how it would work, as I did, if the family involved didn't really want to participate it FGM in the first place, but simply had some cultural pressure and needed an out.

We also discussed the wide variance of people who practice this. Egypt is different than Eritrea, and Eritrea is different from Somalia for example. What we came up with, is that the AAP is acting like Great White Hunter of old and is going to condescend to 'those people' and tell them they're not torturing and mutilating correctly, that American medicine is going to show them how to do it right. This does NOT address the underlying causes of the practice, it will NOT stop, say, infibulation if that is what the families truly desire. It Will, as the article points out, give a kind of permission for FGM. American permission. The bigoted arrogance of the AAP is disgusting and horrid.

[bliss_eternal]

4. ....bliss endorses this message.

quote:
The bigoted arrogance of the AAP is disgusting and horrid.

:cry::grr::mad::cry:

[bliss_eternal]

3. what the bloody fuck...?

...is this fresh hell? :grr::mad::banghead: someone is shitting me, they've got to be! if this isn't some sort of sick, disturbed joke...:shrug: seriously....has the world suddenly gone mad, and this is the official declarative statement?

[BlueIris]

5. That's what I said. The first words out of my mouth were basically

"What the fucking fuck?"

It's just awful.

[bliss_eternal]

6. I'm considering sending a thank you card to

the senator in New York attempting to make it a federal law. Senator Joseph Crowley.

It's a damn shame there are so few people in the senate willing to go on the record declaring this crap barbaric and insane.


quote:
I am sure the academy had only good intentions, but what their recommendation has done is only create confusion about whether F.G.M. is acceptable in any form, and it is the wrong step forward on how best to protect young women and girls,” said Representative Joseph Crowley, Democrat of New York, who recently introduced a bill to toughen federal law by making it a crime to take a girl overseas to be circumcised. “F.G.M. serves no medical purpose, and it is rightfully banned in the U.S.”

[BlueIris]

7. Same.

And I haven't sent a thank you note to any Dem politician since '05.