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AAP Reverses Policy on Genital ‘Nicking’; Danger of Moral Relativism Remains

Last month, the American Academy of Pediatrics jumped right in as a contestant in the race to see who can be the most revolting, all in the name of multiculturalism and their misguided idea of tolerance. They released a policy update on Female Genital Mutilation, in which they first changed the term to Female Genital Cutting and, further, gave credence to the idea of allowing doctors to provide a “clitoral nick” instead.

Obviously, this didn’t sit well with sane people everywhere and, as such, the AAP was forced to retract that policy update and issue a new update. While I am thankful that they retracted the original vile update and it was clearly the right thing to do, the underlying reasons for the original update itself are highly troubling and can’t be swept away as easily as the policy was.

Firstly, the new update leaves the less offensive ‘cutting’ in place of ‘mutilation’. Guess who can’t handle the truth, as always? In the delusional minds of those on the left, particularly the elitist left, everything is semantics. Truth does not matter, as long as the Newspeak is deemed less offensive and allows them to pat themselves on their smug backs for being multicultural Citizens of the World ™.

Inoffensive, redefined words are more important to them than the actual offensive, and, frankly, evil acts themselves. Of course, evil isn’t a word that is allowed to be used either, which is exactly why the sickening idea of “just a little nick” entered their semblance of minds to begin with. It didn’t just happen here in America, either. The global left all have the same (alleged) thought processes; The Royal Australian New Zealand College of Obstetricians is considering ‘nicking’ as well.

RANZCOG secretary Gino Pecoraro said the policy would be discussed at next month’s Women’s Health Committee meeting.

We will need to start to think about [its introduction] but we would have to speak to community leaders from Australia,” Dr Pecoraro said.

“If a nick could meet the cultural needs of a particular woman, then it might save her from going through what can really be drastic surgery…”

The cultural needs? The need to mutilate a girl’s sexual organs? The need to commit a barbaric act? That right there is the danger that we all still face. The reason “nicking” was even discussed as an option, is due to the left’s embracing of moral relativism, in particularly meta-ethical relativism. An article at Salon, actually highlighted that and the extent of the danger that meta-ethical relativism, and the left’s own latent racist tendencies, brings.

As a nation of immigrants, we (in some ways like France, with its tensions over the burqa) continue to see tested the limits of liberties we hold dear; we continue to negotiate the tricky territory of embracing peoples while — in this case, rightly — rejecting their practices. And our doctors, evidently, are being asked to do exactly that in their own examining rooms. How can doctors address FGM in a way that makes sense to patients (why boys but not girls?) and educates without alienating, thus possibly helping protect that daughter from future harm? The above scenario with the Somali mother was a real one: It led to a comparable, and also rejected, “nicking” proposal in Seattle in 1996. So here we are again, revisiting the question at a national level, with doctors apparently still trying to figure out the most effective way to help protect the girls they encounter. What can we learn, this time around, about how to help them?

Yeah, no. There is no tricky territory to negotiate. Some things are black and white. Some things are right or wrong. Some things are good or evil. The elitist left, enshrined in their ivory towers, choose to be apologists for evil behavior so that they can tout themselves as culturally enlightened and Better Than You. They explain away all wrongs perpetrated by others by trying to rationalize irrational and insane behavior. Partly, due to their worshipping at the shrine of multiculturalism and partly due to their own bigoted beliefs.

Their constant talk of “brown people”, a phrase which they use that seems to encompass all but their own Ivory Tower dwelling selves, is another underlying factor. Not only do they truly believe that they are Smarter Than You and more enlightened than we hapless rubes, but they also truly believe that they are better than all those pesky “brown people”, particularly non-westerners. To them, of course non-ivory, non-westerners are far less advanced and can’t be expected to act in a civilized manner. Their barbarism is excused with a figurative pat on the head and a “bless their hearts.”

This attitude is not only bigoted, it is a great danger. It is the “soft bigotry of low expectations” taken to an unprecedented, and deadly level. The result of this line of thought is that not only are barbaric acts like FGM condoned, but terrorism is also not only tolerated, but excused. We see this all the time in their constant excuse-making for terrorists. Excuse me, man-made disaster causers, as the Newspeak-y left would like us to call them.

This bigotry and this meta-ethical relativism is one of the largest dangers the world faces. The world must realize that apologizing for evil, violent acts is not embracing diversity. It’s not “seeing both sides” nor being culturally aware. It is embracing insanity and condoning evil. Those who condone such barbarism and persist in delusional moral equivalency, like we are seeing now on a different scale with Israel and the flotilla, are actually complicit in it’s perpetuation.

It must end. Never Again, indeed.

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Cross- posted from NewsReal

COMMENTS

  • renny

    No genital “cutting,”nicking,” “slicing,” or “dicing” of female children, EVER in the US.

    No discussion needed.

    • SteveLA

      One way to outlaw this sort of action in the US would be to pass legislation stripping insurance coverage related to this procedure for Doctors who are stupid enough to perform these procedures. Nothing scares a Doc more than the prospect of being sued and not having insurance.

      Doctors and any staff that support them can be free to support this religious practice, but do it without protection of insurance, at least in this country.

      • streiff

        is to make doing it, or cooperating in having it done, a freakin felony. Doctors should fear going to jail. “Parents” who try to have this done should be there, too.

        • SteveLA

          (Public Law 104-208, sec 645 (a)(3-5)) already exists.

          There has been one prosecution in Atlanta already in 2006 with the father going to jail for 10 years. Interesting enough, this law was passed in 1996 under Slick Mister Clinton.

          Dumb move on the part of AAP, just stupid.

          • http://snarkandboobs.wordpress.com/ Lori Ziganto

            to allow “nicking” as a compromise. A compromise! From the policy that has since been retracted (but the minds *thinking* of such a policy have not been)

            It might be more effective if federal and state laws enabled pediatricians to reach out to families by offering a ritual nick as a possible compromise to avoid greater harm.

            They wanted the laws amended in a way so as to allow “nicking”. In addition, there is not a consensus of legal minds regarding whether or not the laws, as they stand now, actually preclude a “nick.”

          • http://www.rightklik.net rightklik

            “The AAP does not endorse the practice of offering a ‘clitoral nick.’ This minimal pinprick is forbidden under federal law and the AAP does not recommend it to its members.”

            A stronger statement would have been encouraging.

            Whether it’s legal or illegal (and whether it’s minimal or maximal) the AAP should not be endorsing ritual nicking, pricking, slicing, cutting or mutilation.

            Physicians should not perform procedures that have no medical purpose…especially on children…especially on their genitals…especially when it’s part of an atavistic ritual.

    • nepanyrush

      Female circumcision is horrendous. It is mutilation, harmful, very painful, and, as practiced in most cultures, highly dangerous. Male circumcision is also a barbaric practice that needs to be stopped. Unlike much of the world that does not practice this form of mutilation, it is highly practiced in the United States.

      • natalie

        between male circumcision and female genital mutilation. You can’t interchange those terms and pretend to equalize them. There is absolutely no benefit to FGM, done when the girl is several year old, it is a practice designed to mutilate and reduce function. Male circumcision is not mutilation, it is done to infants and has many practical and physiological benefits and no drawbacks when performed properly. Keep in mind, too, that it is not performed when physiological reasons exist thaqt would render it unsafe. Doctors screwing up on occasion is not at all the same thing as finding fault with the actual circumcision, and there is a reason CIRCUMCISION is the proper term for this procedure, while MUTILATION is the proper term for the subject of this article, despite people like you trying to equate them by using those terms as interchangeable.

        • wannabeanncoulter

          In Turkey, male circumcision is performed slightly before boys reach puberty. It is a ritual performed in a large group (ie, dozens of boys are circumcised), and frequently it is performed in public and outdoors.

          While the health benefits of male circumcision are still debated, it’s origin is not. Circumcision was originally a ritual performed by a snake-handling cult of ancient Jews. It was inspired by the natural shedding of skin by snakes.

      • http://www.rightklik.net rightklik

        Male circumcision remains a controversial issue, but as recently as last year, male circumcision was found to provide real and important benefits for some:

        “In addition to decreasing the incidence of HIV infection, male circumcision significantly reduced the incidence of HSV-2 infection and the prevalence of HPV infection, findings that underscore the potential public health benefits of the procedure.”

        The question of when and whether males should be circumcised is a subject much debate…but it is debate that is based on scientific evidence. Ritual female genital mutilation, on the other hand, isn’t supported by any kind of evidence, and it hasn’t been shown to prevent anything harmful or inconvenient…except female orgasms.

        • http://www.rightklik.net rightklik

          http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/360/13/1298

  • Next93

    Multiculturalism is cultural suicide. How can we expect our young men to take up arms to defend our values on foreign battlefields when we can’t summon the courage to defend them at home?

    Or is that an antiquated concept? Do we really need to be defeated by force of arms is we can’t bring ourselves to use the word “evil” in regards to a practice of intentionally maiming little girls?

    • redneck_hippie

      If we import both socialism and sharia we will become Europe even faster. Next thing you know we’ll be withdrawing all troops from the Middle East. Oh wait.

  • taxpayer1234

    First, do no harm.

  • E Pluribus Unum

    Yeah, that’s what I thought. This is purely about subjugation of females. This doesn’t require alot of discussion, thought, agonizing. It is barbaric and should be outlawed, like both Lori and Strieff are advocating here.

    And I just DARE them to loudly object. The press will either lay out, or take their side, but the population of America will respond by becoming less tolerant of their anti-freedom agenda.

    • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

      [I was piling on here in anger, agreeing with EPU, and wrote something that's just counter productive.]

      • E Pluribus Unum

        It sounded like fun. :)

        • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

          I’ll email you. :)

  • eastbaylarry

    I’d like to ‘nick’ some of the idiots who support this idea, with a meat cleaver.

  • http://www.rightklik.net rightklik

    A perfect storm of multiculturalism and idiotic moral equivalence: An interview with Dena Davis, Ph.D., (lead author of the original AAP genital mutilation statement) in which Davis attempts to construct a rationale for her deliberately provocative publicity stunt (5.14.10):

    http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/201005143

  • red4ever

    I was in grad school in the mid-1990s when I first became aware of this issue. As an international relations major, we naturally discussed the asylum case that made those subject to genital mutilation eligible for asylum. Everyone knew this was wrong, except the original IJ who just didn’t want to expand the class of people eligible for asylum. Which is a different issue than the facts of FGM.

    Even my ultaliberal adviser was wrong. And this guy was a poster child for multicultaralism. So, if even liberals knew 10+ years ago it was wrong, what has changed?

  • http://www.rightklik.net rightklik

    Pascale Hammond Lane, a pediatric urologist, provides sage conclusions:

    Other cultures permit

  • conservativecrusade

    genital mutilation if the person being mutilated is the age of a consenting adult. Other than that, anyone involved in the act, from the parent to the “doctor”, should receive the maximum sentence for the crime. Not sure when the APA and other such groups were given the power to decide doctors were above the law. And since every state has laws on the books that allow punishment for the crime of mutilating a person, it should be enforced and the APA and other such groups should be put in their place.

  • joseywhales

    Please, forgive my ignorance, but I’m somewhat afraid to google this subject and learn for myself. Can someone explain to me in a mature way how this is any different than circumcision? Is it risky or painful for the child? It seems like circumcising males can be looked upon as barbaric and strange…. but I’m guessing some sort of medical complications arise from the female surgery?

    Again, I really know nothing of the matter, and would appreciate enlightenment without having to wade through pornographic websites.

    • http://christopherrenner.blogspot.com Christopher Renner

      There aren’t exactly any disposable parts of the female anatomy. And not the slightest medical benefit to the procedure – it’s meant to keep girls and women from enjoying sex so much, because then the men in these cultures would REALLY be unable to control themselves .

      Wade through Wikipedia if you want the clinical details (article doesn’t have any pictures but there is an illustration that’d be awkward if someone else saw you viewing it.)