Routine Infant Circumcision: An Unethical Practice
Routine Infant Circumcision is a common surgical procedure that occurs on newborn males typically within a week after their birth, although some religions, particularly Judaism, call for the circumcision to be performed on the eighth day of life. However, the ethics of routine infant circumcision are questionable. In fact, routine infant circumcision is extremely unethical. Routine infant circumcision violates a person’s human rights to genital autonomy by infringing upon his religious freedom, ignoring his right to informed consent, robbing him of bodily integrity, and causing lifelong negative sexual effects.
Regarding the religious aspect of routine infant circumcision, religious freedoms are being infringed upon when a newborn male is …show more content…
In Brian Earp’s article, Earp debunks a statement made by Jacobs and Arora that stated circumcision has “little or no effect…on sexuality.” (Earp, 2015, p. 1). Earp expresses that the glans penis of a circumcised infant rubs against clothing and is exposed to the elements for at the very least a decade before the boy’s first sexual encounter, and that an exposed glans can result in desensitization of the penile glans. (Earp, 2015). Foreskin is a highly vascular and innervated tissue. The loss of the foreskin results in a direct loss of sensory nerves and touch receptors that are located inside foreskin tissue. Earp states that adult foreskin is thirty to fifty square centimeters. (Earp, 2015). The foreskin has a wide variety of sexual functions that are lost due to circumcision. Though sex can still be enjoyable for a circumcised man, the foreskin tends to make sex more enjoyable for the intact male. Therefore, routine infant circumcision robs an infant of his potential sexual function and capabilities, which is unethical due to the fact that he has a right to bodily
Routine Infant Circumcision is a common surgical procedure that occurs on newborn males typically within a week after their birth, although some religions, particularly Judaism, call for the circumcision to be performed on the eighth day of life. However, the ethics of routine infant circumcision are questionable. In fact, routine infant circumcision is extremely unethical. Routine infant circumcision violates a person’s human rights to genital autonomy by infringing upon his religious freedom, ignoring his right to informed consent, robbing him of bodily integrity, and causing lifelong negative sexual effects.
Regarding the religious aspect of routine infant circumcision, religious freedoms are being infringed upon when a newborn male is …show more content…
In Brian Earp’s article, Earp debunks a statement made by Jacobs and Arora that stated circumcision has “little or no effect…on sexuality.” (Earp, 2015, p. 1). Earp expresses that the glans penis of a circumcised infant rubs against clothing and is exposed to the elements for at the very least a decade before the boy’s first sexual encounter, and that an exposed glans can result in desensitization of the penile glans. (Earp, 2015). Foreskin is a highly vascular and innervated tissue. The loss of the foreskin results in a direct loss of sensory nerves and touch receptors that are located inside foreskin tissue. Earp states that adult foreskin is thirty to fifty square centimeters. (Earp, 2015). The foreskin has a wide variety of sexual functions that are lost due to circumcision. Though sex can still be enjoyable for a circumcised man, the foreskin tends to make sex more enjoyable for the intact male. Therefore, routine infant circumcision robs an infant of his potential sexual function and capabilities, which is unethical due to the fact that he has a right to bodily