Enough of the nonsense about “mutilation.” The American Academy of Pediatrics will issue a positive endorsement of infant circumcision on Monday as having sufficient health benefits to justify the procedure. From the AAP statement:
Evaluation of current evidence indicates that the health benefits of newborn male circumcision outweigh the risks and that the procedure’s benefits justify access to this procedure for families who choose it. Specific benefits identified included prevention of urinary tract infections, penile cancer, and transmission of some sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has endorsed this statement.
So, circumcision should remain a matter of legal parental choice based on both religious freedom and health promotion bases.
This should, but won’t, settle the matter. Circumcision has come to be about much more than the physical procedure.