Would "Universal Circumcision" fight the spread of AIDS?

I honestly do not get the anti-circumcision crowd who fights to end the practice altogether. It is an ancient part of the Jewish and Muslim religions, and a practice that most doctors believe is essentially harmless to babies. But I also have to wonder when doctors begin proposing to make circumcision universal. Their reason? To combat the spread of AIDS.

The move comes after officials analyzed the results of several studies that show in African countries hit hard by HIV, men who were circumcised reduced their infection risk by half, the New York Times reported. However, those studies focused on heterosexual men who are at risk of getting HIV from infected female partners. The main issue in the U.S. is men who have sex with men.

Of course, the best preventative measure for HIV is to have intercourse only in marriage, and to marry someone who has been previously tested and found to be HIV-free. But I guess that recommendation would be too radical for medical professionals and politicians.

HIV does not need a break to enter the body

For years, conservatives has been ridiculed for claiming the only sure way to prevent AIDS was to abstain from sex outside of marriage or at least outside of a committed relationship with a tested, monogamous partner. We have been told over and over that there are plenty of effective alternative methods to prevent HIV transmission. But again, we are learning HIV is wily and extremely flexible in its infection strategy.

Instead of infiltrating breaks in the skin, HIV appears to attack normal, healthy genital tissue, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday in a study that offers new insight into how the AIDS virus spreads.

They said researchers had assumed the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, sought out beaks in the skin, such as a herpes sore, in order to gain access to immune system cells deeper in the tissue...

He said until now, scientists had little understanding of the details of how HIV is transmitted sexually in women.

But fear not. I am sure the leaders in our public schools will never allow abstinence to be taught.