Parents face so many difficult decisions when it comes to having a child: decisions about nursing, sleep patterns, discipline, teaching methods and, in the case of boys, whether or not to circumcise. In addition to being the most common surgery for males in the U.S., circumcision has been practiced in various cultures for centuries. Yet when it comes to the health and best interest of your newborn, is circumcision the way to go?
Junior staff members, who often perform non-therapeutic circumcision of children, may lack the experience to do a "properly performed" surgery. Babies do not come with a “cut on dotted line” inscription.
Circumcision causes pain, even when anesthesia is used, which is about half the time. Even if there was no pain, it is traumatic, removes normal, healthy tissue, and scars the body and the psyche for life. Circumcision removes the protective covering of the penis (like removing the eyelid from the eye) and the functional part of the sex organ, thereby reducing sexual sensitivity and satisfaction. Just because babies heal well is no reason to perform needless surgeries on them.
Physicians, nurses, psychologist, and parents who want the best for their patients and sons consider themselves pro-intact, not anti-circumcision. They operate from a holistic perspective, not out of fear. We view the small number of primarily white, circumcised researchers and doctors promoting circumcision at every opportunity as anti-foreskin, if not foreskin-phobic.
Our data show that the complications, risks, and other disadvantages and drawbacks greatly exceed any claimed prophylactic advantage. “Properly performed” is a moot point because non-therapeutic circumcision of non-consenting children is an unethical surgery under 21st-century standards of medical ethics, for numerous reasons, and should not be performed at all.
Next Argument
8
6
6
6
5
5
12
6
7
8
8
1
0
1
5
2
2
2
4
2
Biweekly updates on new debates and experts
Please check your email to confirm your subscription.
© 2008 Opposing Views, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Opposing Views, Inc. is not responsible for the content posted on this website. Please view full disclaimer under Terms
Expert Verified
