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wikify Informed consent
What matters equally is that performing any medical treatment when there is nothing to treat is considered malpractice and unethical. And when the "treatment" is a surgery that permanently removes a [[Foreskin| functional part of a person's body]], the harm is immeasurably greater because it is irreversible. Amputating a perfectly healthy body part is a harm in and of itself. It is not a "cure" but an assault. And when infants and children are deprived of their right to refuse the permanent removal of a part of their genitals, that is when genital cutting, by any name you want to call it, is a human-rights violation.
So it is not genital surgery that Jews Against Circumcision is against but forced genital surgery. It is not circumcision that we're against but forced circumcision. We're against it because, as Jews, we believe that every human being has a right to grow up with his genitals whole, intact, un-scarred and unharmed. What we're against is the genital cutting that is imposed on those unable to exercise [[informed consent ]] and unable to defend themselves from it: infants and children. We oppose any and all medically-unnecessary genital surgery for all children, whether female, intersex or male. We believe that the right of bodily self-ownership - which necessarily includes the right of [[genital autonomy]] - is a universal and fundamental human right that transcends every conceivable group identification. The right not to have part of one's genitals cut off without consent is a right that belongs to every infant and every child, regardless of sex, race, ethnicity and nationality, and no matter what religion that child is born into: whether Judaism, Christianity, Islam or any other religion. As Jews, we believe that the right of bodily self-ownership is the most basic and important human right there is.
What's more, we're not just supporters of the right of [[genital autonomy]] but believe that we have a moral obligation to defend that right on behalf of those who can't defend it themselves. As we see it, the moral obligation to actively oppose genital cutting is intrinsic to our self-concept of who we are as Jews. This obligation comes from the principle of tikkun olam, which is typically translated as "repairing the world." Although tikkun olam is originally a religious concept, it is also deeply ingrained in secular Jewish thought, philosophy, ethics and culture. It is a moral imperative that impels followers of Judaism and secular Jews, alike, to strive to leave the world better than we found it. That is why the [[Brit Milah]] is increasingly being replaced by the [[Brit Shalom]] among religious Jews. It is why so many secular Jews are actively working to end all forced genital cutting. Jews Against Circumcision is against all forced genital cutting not in spite of our being Jewish but because we are Jewish.