Banning Male Circumcision? Really? [Mike the Mad Biologist]

Every so often I read on the internets about people who are really upset about circumcision. Oddly, it's compared to female genital mutilation (I'll get to that in a bit). But in San Francisco, there's actually an attempt to make banning circumcision a referendum item:

Most bans in San Francisco are enacted by the Board of Supervisors, but come November, it sounds like voters will have the opportunity to jump on the ban wagon by deciding whether to ban male circumcision.

San Francisco resident Lloyd Schofield said Thursday he is "on track" to have enough signatures to place his proposed measure on the November ballot that would make it illegal to "circumcise, excise, cut or mutilate the foreskin, testicle or penis of another person who has not attained the age of 18."

...Schofield said he became the proponent of the local ballot measure after being asked to champion a local bill during a July symposium on circumcision held at the UC Berkeley. Schofield said he was approached by those affiliated with a group pushing for a federal bill to "end male genital mutilation in the U.S.," according to its website, mgmbill.org.

He said he thought about it for two weeks and then decided to do it. "I always knew this was something wrong to do to a child," he said.

..."We say: 'Would you like to help protect the children from forced circumcision? This is a human-rights issue,'" Schofield said.

The propose...