Once, a Muslim cab driver veered off the road and argued with her during a trip to the airport. But support came from surprising quarters, such as from young Jewish mothers reluctant to see their son s foreskins sliced from their bodies. In a speech she plans to deliver, Somerville says when she thought about the reaction she would unleash by speaking out on the issue last year, her courage almost failed her. The main reason Somerville opposes circumcision is studies show it is not medically necessary. In 1996, a special committee of the Canadian Pediatric Society found the only benefit was a reduced risk of urinary tract infection, which afflicts less than two percent of males and can be treated with antibiotics.
Some evidence also suggests the procedure can reduce the risk of the rare penile cancer.
Even so, about half of North American male babies undergo the surgery. Bleeding and infection occur in five to 10 percent of cases, although in rare cases some permanent damage can result. Until recently, the debate over circumcision centered on whether infants find it painful. Medical researchers have now confirmed this. Somerville says she understands the depth of feeling the issue arouses.