CIN (Circumcision Information Network) 2:7

CIN CompuBulletin
Circumcision Information Network 
Volume 2, Number 7, 25 February 1995

SANTA FE NURSES VICTORIOUS
Contributed by the Santa Fe Nurses, retyped by George Hill.

IT'S OFFICIAL! (Santa Fe, New Mexico)  After months of mediation, St. Vincent
Hospital administration officially agreed that "the Conscientious Objector
nurses will be relieved of duties of circumcision.  Those duties are
witnessing the consent, dispensing pre-op medications, preparation of the
room, assisting with the procedure, immediate post-op care such as stopping
bleeding and applying Vaseline dressing, clean up afterwards and stocking the
room."
        
Mediation was an exhausting process that threatened to break down on several
occasions.  The C. O. nurses who took part were: Carole Alley, Mary Conant,
Naomi Landau, Ann Lown and Betty Katz Sperlich.  They listened politely while
administrators, physicians, and consenting nurses (those who assist with
circumcisions) expressed concerns that the C. O. nurses were zealots who were
harassing parents and raining on people's birth celebrations.  The success of
the mediation is a credit to the skills of the mediator, Lucy Moore of
Western Network and Dianne Justin, Staff
Representative of 1199 Health Care Employees Union.  The C. O. nurses report:
"We could never have done it without the involvement of our union or without
the brilliant negotiating skills of Ann Lown, R. N., our chief spokesperson."
        
The resulting document, known as a Memo of Understanding, is legally binding.
St. Vincent Hospital goes down in history as the first hospital in the world
to officially recognize R. N. Conscientious Objectors to infant circumcision.
The C. O. nurses hope that the Memo of Understanding will serve as a model
for other hospitals across the country and encourage other nurses to feel
safe coming out of the closet on this issue.

On Sunday, February 5th, at the Unitarian Church in Santa Fe, New Mexico,
five of us R. N. Conscientious Objectors to Infant Circumcision (Mary-Rose
Booker, Mary Conant, Betty Katz Sperlich, Jesse Wind, and Patty Worth) and
one M. D. led a discussion on infant circumcision and showed Barry
Ellsworth's Video, "The Nurses of St. Vincent: Saying No to Circumcision".
The audience was very responsive.  One man expressed his resentment at being
circumcised as a baby.  Another man told of remembering being five years old
and seeing his baby brother circumcised on a dresser in their home.  A man
shared that he was left intact because his father, a veterinarian, said
"Nature makes things for a reason."
        
After the official discussion, a woman came up to us and took home a copy of
Dr. Ritter's book, "Say No to Circumcision!", for her daughter who is
pregnant with twins.  Several people thanked us for our work and asked how
they could help.  They eagerly took home some NOHARMM and NOCIRC pamphlets.
An R. N. who works in Pediatrics at St. Vincent Hospital, and who has
assisted with two circumcisions, said she will now formalize her C. O.
status.  Things are snowballing.  

TRAGEDY IN ETHIOPIA
Contributed by hampton@netcom.com
NOHARMM child rights advocate Mimi Ramsey, RN, has just returned from
Ethiopia where she has been educating parents about the dangers and problems
arising from circumcision, both female and male. At a recent meeting she
related one of the most bizarre and sad consequences the gathering had ever
heard. It seems a family had five children (four girls and a boy) all
circumcised on the same day last December while Mimi was there. It's hard to
imagine how much pain was in that household that day, but the story
continues. They performed full pharaonic circumcision on the girls, which
removes everything down to the bone before stitching the labia together, and
then as per local custom they bound their legs together to prevent the
stitches from pulling out. The next day two of the girls had to go to the
bathroom, so together they waddled 'out back' to try to pass urine through
their wounds. But hyenas got to them and they could not run away because
their legs were bound. The good(?) news is that they lived, but with an arm
and half of a face missing. This is such a bizarre event that the Ethiopian
people might not even see it as a consequence of circumcision, much like when
an American baby dies from post-circumcision infection it is seen as 'just
one of those sad things that happen' as parents and circumcisers alike
mentally sever the connection between their actions and the resulting
tragedies. But consequences are consequences
no matter how bizarre or unusual.

VIDEO NEARS COMPLETION
"MEN BEGAN TO SCREAM," a half-hour documentary exploring the men's movement
against male genital mutilation, recently concluded taping of interviews.
Project completion requires an additional $10,000 for editing, closed
captioning and distribution.  Tax deductible donations to NOHARMM are
urgently needed before this important film can reach viewers.  PO Box 460795,
San Francisco, CA 94146.

PLANNED ACTIONS
(For details contact NOHARMM, unless otherwise noted.)

8-12 April, Philadelphia, PA: American Academy of Pediatrics Annual Meeting.
Leafletting and Vigil (9 April) opposing childhood genital mutilation.
Contact Tom Morris, P. O. Box 53152, Philadelphia, PA 19105 or Al Fields
(610) 489-6505.

6 May, Philadelphia, PA: Educational Seminar on Newborn Circumcision.
Co-sponsored by Childbirth Education Foundation and NOHARMM/Philadelphia.
Volunteers and donations needed.  Jim Peron, CEF, (215) 357-2792

8-10 May, San Francisco, CA: American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists Annual Meeting.  Rally and leafletting to draw attention to
inconsistency of ACOG's new stand against FGM while questioning their role in
performing male genital mutilations.

30 May - 4 June, Vancouver, BC:  Child Health 2000. Rally and leafletting to
raise awareness among 4,000 expected international attendees about genital
mutilation in North America.  Volunteers and donations needed.  James Loewen,
NOHARMM/Vancouver, (604) 689-9697.

27-29 July, Northern CA: San Francisco Bay Area Film Premier,  Nurses of St.
Vincent - Saying No to Circumcision.  Strategy Meeting-Reunion-Picnic of
those who care.  March to and Rally at Marin General Hospital to commemorate
Tenth Anniversary of nurse Marilyn Milos' forced resignation.  The week end
kicks off a national awareness campaign.
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