Circumcision, long one of the most emotionally charged surgical procedures performed in the United States, has become the focus of yet another intense debate as leading health authorities are about to issue major new evaluations of the potential health benefits of the operation. The war of words over the procedure has been sparked by a decision by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue recommendations for the first time about whether newborn boys and possibly even adult men should undergo the common surgical procedure, just as the American Academy of Pediatrics is poised to revise its position of not recommending the operation. The two evaluations, which are nearing completion, come in the wake of new research indicating that the procedure has more health benefits than previously thought, including reducing the risk for getting the AIDS virus and contracting other sexually transmitted diseases. The rate at which U.S. male newborns are undergoing the procedure has dropped to about 56 percent since peaking at about 80 percent in the 1960s. The new data on its health benefits have prompted supporters of circumcision to call for greater efforts to encourage the surgery, but opponents liken the […]