Thousands of people gathered in the rain Saturday on the soggy grounds of the Washington Monument to turn Earth Day into an homage to science. After four hours of speeches and musical performances, they marched down Constitution Avenue to the foot of Capitol Hill, chanting “Build labs, not walls!” and “Hey, Trump, have you heard, you can’t silence every nerd!”
The March for Science began as a notion batted around online on Reddit after the Women’s March on Washington, which was held Jan. 21, the day after President Trump’s inauguration. The idea snowballed after it was endorsed by numerous mainstream science organizations, which vowed that it would not be a partisan event. It eventually became a global phenomenon, held in more than 600 cities on six continents — and cheered on by scientists on a seventh, Antarctica.
Science and the law are not natural partners. Science seeks to
advance our understanding of the natural world. The law is tasked with
ensuring public safety and making sure justice is properly served. Over
time, science became another tool available to the legal system to
pursue those goals.
During recent years, though, problems with some aspects of forensic
science have come to light. Examples include false convictions based on faulty fire-scene and burn-pattern analysis and on bite-mark analysis, incorrect fingerprint identification and instances of misconduct in forensic labs.
Recognizing these shortcomings has led to various efforts to propel
forensic science forward, helping us recognize which parts of it are
scientifically valid, which parts aren’t, and where more research must
be done.
A Detroit area physician faces federal charges for allegedly
performing female genital mutilation on multiple 6- to 7-year-old girls
as part of a religious and cultural practice at a medical clinic in
Livonia.
Detroit Free Press
A key distinction between male circumcision and female gender mutilation is the latter has more serious side effects.
Protesters
outside of the U.S. federal courthouse in Detroit today argued to
outlaw circumcision of boys in the wake of last week's announcement of a
highly publicized criminal case of female genital mutilation. The demonstrators say such mutilation doesn't just happen to girls, and that boys need protection, too.
The
protest came as Dr. Jumana Nagarwala, 44, of Northville, appeared in
court for a detention hearing at which she was ordered to remain locked
up without bond on charges she mutilated the genitals of two Minnesota
girls. She was charged last Thursday with genital mutilation following
an FBI investigation into allegations that the two girls came to metro
Detroit in February with their mothers and had their genitals cut at a
Livonia clinic by Nagarwala.
While the case has triggered
international headlines and sparked public outrage, the protesters
said that boys also need protection from this type of procedure, as they
likened circumcision to genital mutilation.
“All babies should be
protected and be able to keep their whole bodies,” said Julie Colon,
26, who attended the protest with her toddler son on her back. “There’s
just no reason for any child to be altered at birth or really anytime.”
Jody
Farrugia, 35, a registered nurse at the Detroit Medical Center, said
she has long been opposed to circumcision and tries to talk new parents
out of it, but nobody seems willing to listen. “I see the risks and
harms daily. I always encourage mothers to keep their sons intact but
they don’t think twice. They think it’s gross, they think it’s cleaner.”
“I still hear their screams from down the hallway. It haunts me.”
Faruggia
said circumcision can cause a certain number of health complications,
including too much skin being taken off, which can lead to painful and
tight erections as an adult. It can contribute to male erectile
dysfunction and sometimes a jagged cut means repeating the surgery, she
said.
She was holding a sign
that said ‘Only quacks cut healthy children.’ She noted that her son has
not been circumcised and he is healthy.
Another protester was Jerry Boor, 70, of Rochester Hills, who believes both science and the Bible are against circumcision.
He
noted that his mother had him circumcised but he chose not to
circumcise his son after researching the issue and concluding it wasn’t a
medical necessity. “I love her but she didn’t know any better,” he said
of his mother.
According to organizers of the protest, the
genitals of 49,000 baby boys are cut in Michigan every year at the
request of parents, denying a boy's right to intact and normal genitals.
They say they are upset that doctors are legally allowed to cut the
genitals of boys, without any medical necessity, but that a federal law
prohibits cutting the genitals of girls and makes it a 5-year-felony.
"The
genitals of both girls and boys needs to be protected from the harm of
any genital cutting practice," says Norm Cohen, executive director of
NOCIRC of Michigan, a nonprofit, consumer-rights advocacy group that
researches circumcision effects. “Michigan has one of the highest rates
of circumcision in the world. This unnecessary custom violates a child’s
right to bodily integrity and normal functions.”
