VALDOSTA — A group opposed to male infant circumcision plans to stage a peaceful protest Saturday in Valdosta, according to organizers.

The Bloodstained Men and their friends plan to protest from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, at the intersection of St. Augustine Road and Norman Drive, according to a statement from the group.

Bloodstained Men was incorporated as a nonprofit group in California in 2014, said Erika Talvitie, press secretary for the organization. The group opposes male infant circumcision on the grounds that babies cannot give consent to the procedure.

Seven members of the group are expected to protest Saturday, and Talvitie expected 12 to 20 members of the community to help.

The protesters maintain there is no medical benefit to circumcision. The Centers for Disease Control says male circumcision “has been found to significantly reduce the circumcised male’s chance of contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted infections from an infected female,” but Talvitie said the CDC is using “bad science.”

She said Bloodstained Men also opposes circumcision for religious reasons, as is practiced in Judaism and Islam.

“Religious freedom should end where non-consent begins,” she said.

 

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.