Officials Weigh Circumcision to Fight H.I.V. Risk

NEW YORK TIMES — Public health officials are considering promoting routine circumcision for all baby boys born in the United States to reduce the spread of H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS.

Experts are also considering whether the surgery should be offered to adult heterosexual men whose sexual practices put them at high risk of infection. But they acknowledge that a circumcision drive in the United States would be unlikely to have a drastic impact: the procedure does not seem to protect those at greatest risk here, men who have sex with men.

Circumcision will be discussed this week at the National H.I.V. Prevention Conference in Atlanta.

WEIRDO ALERT:

Among the speakers is a physician from Operation Abraham, an organization based in Israel and named after the biblical figure who was circumcised at an advanced age, according to the book of Genesis. The group trains doctors in Africa to perform circumcisions on adult men to reduce the spread of H.I.V.

[Inherent in Operation Abraham, I suggest, is surely this unpleasant logic: "Thank goodness for HIV! It has allowed us to dress up our weird and barbaric religious mutilation ceremony in a costume of medical legitimacy!"]

Members of Intact America, a group that opposes newborn circumcision, will protest the conference. “Circumcising babies doesn’t prevent H.I.V.,” said Georganne Chapin, who leads the organization.

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Time Out New York, a weekly better known for its exhaustive cultural and restaurant listings, introduced a “Sex and Dating” section in early July. Along with articles on finding strippers and getting checked for sexually transmitted diseases, it features photos of local singles in the hunt, with e-mail contact information.