Should Boys be Circumcised?

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Debating the ethics of circumcision is moot because circumcision is already recognized as unethical. Four United Nations documents make clear that taking away a baby’s right to develop normally and naturally takes away his right to self-determination. The Declaration of the First International Symposium on Circumcision, adopted March 3, 1989, by the General Assembly of the First International Symposium on Circumcision, states: “We recognize the inherent right of all human beings to an intact body. Without religious or racial prejudice, we affirm this basic human right.”

Routine circumcision gained popularity in English-speaking countries during the Victorian era, supposedly to reduce the incidence of masturbation, which was mistakenly believed to cause disease. While the strategy failed, recognition of the sexual importance of the foreskin was made clear. Unfortunately, what did work, from that disingenuous introduction into Western medicine onward, was that circumcision became the miracle treatment for the dreaded disease of the day. None of the supposed benefits of circumcision has withstood scientific scrutiny, but that didn’t stop the process whereby, when one justification was disproved, another was adopted to take its place.

Parents and guardians do not have the right to consent to the surgical removal or modification of their children’s normal genitalia, just as they cannot authorize removal of their child’s normal ear, nose, or labia. Physicians and other healthcare providers have an obligation to refuse to remove or mutilate normal, healthy body parts. In addition, insurers are ethically bound not to fund such practices.

Only when a diagnosed condition exists, and after all less invasive treatments have been exhausted, can circumcision be performed on a minor and, then, only with the parent’s informed consent. This is the standard of care for all other procedures, yet it has never been applied to the medical anomaly of circumcision.

The only persons who may consent to medically unnecessary or cosmetic procedures are the individuals themselves, after they have reached the age of consent, and then only after being fully informed about the risks and benefits of the procedure.

Physicians who practice circumcision are violating the first maxim of medical practice, “Primum Non Nocere” (First, Do No Harm), and anyone practicing genital mutilation is violating Article V of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”

We support the genital integrity and self-determination rights of each and every person.