January 24, 2011

Statement re circumcision lawsuit

This statement will grow into the fitful night.

1. Circumcision leaves intact some residual genital functioning, in many cases enough for a very active sex life. So what? The prepuce is a body part. Cutting off the body part is mayhem. Capisce?
1.1. The punishment for cutting off a fingertip is the same as for cutting off the whole arm. A body part is a body part. Mayhem is mayhem.
2. Circumcision means "cutting around." Female circumcision means cutting around the vagina, viz. the clit and labia. Male circumcision means cutting around the penis, removing the prepuce. Both remove the most sensitive part of the genitals. Both destroy the vast majority of fine touch sensation. Both induce a need for deep, violent sex for full satisfaction (and yes circumcised women do in fact have orgasms). Both operations are widely justified by cosmetic and medical justifications where they are practiced. The comparisons go on. So don't shout me down for comparing male and female circumcision.
3. Re the youth sex part: It's not like teens aren't having sex anyways. And it's not like we really want all those who do to be convicted of "unlawful sexual intercourse." What we want is responsible decisions. And it's not really an invitation to responsibility to say "just say no and if you say yes then it's invalid anyway and your beloved will go to jail." Young people are the owners of their own sexualities, and they have the right to consent to sex if they are actually able to do so.
4. There is no 'adults-only' clause in the State or Federal Constitution. All people are created equal. This means that young people have the same right to self-determination vis-a-vis their parents as adults who are under guardianship or conservatorship do against their guardians or conservators." 
5. This is the tip of the iceberg. I have cases in work on educational acceleration, the L.P.S. Act, voter registration and the State Bar Act. God willing, the educational acceleration case will be filed by the weekend.

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