Anti-circumcision group holds demonstration in Idaho Falls

IDAHO FALLS -- Four men are standing at the corner of Hitt Rd. and 17th St. today wearing red stained pants.

They're holding large signs that read, 'Stop cutting baby penis,' 'I did not consent,' and 'In tact body human rights.'

The demonstrators are part of Bloodstained Men & their friends - a group with the mission "to protect children and future generations from genital cutting."

"Babies who bleed become men who bled," Jason Fairfield, a spokesman for the group, tells EastIdahoNews.com. "We want to raise awareness that circumcision is more harmful than people realize."

65 percent of newborn babies born in the United States in 2010 were circumcised, according to the Centers for Disease Control’s National Center for Health Statistics approximately 30 percent of men worldwide have been circumsized.

Bloodstained Men wants to get those numbers lower and the group argues that circumcision can actually cause more harm than good.

""Many more men are complaining about the fact they were circumcised," Fairfield says. "We like to say that Mother Nature is not completely perfect but if there's one area she's likely to be perfect in, it's our reproductive organs."

The demonstrators visiting Idaho Falls Tuesday are from California and Massachusetts. Two of them have been circimcized and two have not. They say their passion for this cause is what gets them to take time off of work to travel the country and spread their message.

"Folks tend to do very little research before they circumcise their child," Fairfield says. "The frenulum is a functional, sensory, valuable and enjoyable body part and people are cutting it off."