To answer some questions....

[bemused_leftist]

Because PM's and email don't work well for me, here's place I can answer them.

Comments

[icecreamempress]

You were going to let me know which hospitals in the Boston area are performing elective surgeries on newborns without their parent(s)' or guardian(s)' consent, per our exchange on James Nicoll's LJ. I can certainly promise an angry letter to (and about) those institutions.

[bemused_leftist]

Thanks. I wish I knew such specifics. A quick Google brought up some links which might be a place to start on the issue.

In any case, I've been told it's an unclear situation. Any hospital (or Peruvian government sterilization project) will have some sort of consent language buried somewhere, or a consent form in a stack of other forms, given to the mother while she is still stressed -- and with unspoken pressure to just get the stack over with. It's not a time to look deeply or ask questions.

So the issue is, in how many cases is the consent an informed consent. What information is the hospital giving the parents, how long in advance, and does it include a fair presentation of the alternatives. Are the parents told that this surgery does not have to be done immediately, but can be done at any age. Etc.

This would come from first person accounts from parents or nurses -- which are likely to be given to anti-circumcision groups (or MRA groups, god help us).

[bemused_leftist]

Here is a list of links, and a scrap of background