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Circumcision is a physical injury of the child's body that can not be undone. It's not just a little scar that remains like after a surgery, after circumcision the boy lacks something. There's a lack of protection, a lack of sensitivity at his [[penis]]. But not only is the body being harmed, the soul of the child is harmed as well.
The most intimate, the most sensitive area is subjected to [[pain ]] that last for days. The adults dictate that, they hold him down, they make him will-less, he has to endure it, he does not understand it, and it still hurts so much for so long.
We pediatricians are convinced that [[human rights]] are at the very top of our value system. Children's rights are [[human rights]]. A child's right to an unharmed body counts more than the parental right to consent. The child's right to self-determination counts more means more to us then religious command. No one accepts corporal punishment just because some people read from the bible that beating is necessary for a child's upbringing.
And sometimes we need to fall into their arms and take away their knifes.
It has to stop that small boys are needlessly subjected to [[pain]].
It has to stop that small boys have an organ cut off that they will later miss.
It has to stop that small boys are subjected to [[Psychological issues of male circumcision| emotional distress]], that for some results in loss of some of the pleasures of life for years, or even for their whole lifeslives.
It has to stop that adults subject children to lasting bodily and emotional harm, when there is no reason for it regarding the best possible health development.
We need to fall into the circumcisers arms, we need to take away the knife from ritual circumcisers, when we can not convince them. We need to take away the circumcision knife from doctors if they use it negligent and without sufficient knowledge.
Already in 2012, all associations of pediatric and adolescent medicine in Germany had spoken out against cutting off the penile foreskin of children or adolescents without a medical reason. The Commission for Ethical Questions of the German Academy for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine confirmed once again in 2016 that such interventions are not in line with the child's best interests. They contradict medical ethics not to harm.
Since the Cologne ruling in 2012, I have been thinking a lot about the circumcision of children and adolescent adolescents and I wrote many articles about it. I was involved in the statement of our ethics committee and also in the formulation of the medical guidelines on circumcision, which have been published in 2016 and currently are being revised.
We all know that Muslim and Jewish boys are circumcised for religious reasons and that these circumcisions are nort not medically necessary. However, most people do not know that many more boys are [[circumcised ]] in the medical field than would be necessary due to a disease of the [[foreskin]]. Without any religious background. Billing data from the health insurance funds tell us that every tenth boy is operated on the foreskin. Year for year. Scientific data on the diseases of the foreskin show that for at most 3% of all cases a surgery is necessary. So it is very likely that two out of three circumcisions made for medical reasons are not necessary.
We adopted the medical guideline in 2017 especially to help doctors to operate unnecessarily less often. This was done with the knowledge and conviction that with the removal of the foreskin the boy loses a large part of the erotically sensitive tissue of his penis. In addition, the operation is not free from [[Risks and complications| complications]]. Unfortunately, the publication of the guideline had no significant effect on the frequencay frequency of circumcision for allegedly medical reasons. The number of circumcisions decreased only slightly from 2017 to 2019. That means that even today, two out of three circumcisions that are made in the outpatient area and paid for by the health insurance companies are probably not medically necessary.
As a doctor and as a medical ethicist, I'm sad about that. Because we as doctors shouldn't harm with our work. I know that many men never feel at a disadvantace disadvantage because they were [[circumcised ]] as children. But I also know that there are many men who suffer from it throughout their life. We cannot predict the development. However, one thing is certain: a removed foreskin can never be restored.
What about circumcision for religious reasons or due to tradition? As doctors, we cannot and do not want to talk anyone into one's religion. However, we can and must always explain that there are usually no medically reasons for these circumcisions. The alleged medical benefit is repeatedly held towars us, but is does not exist, at least not in Germany and not in Europe. Today we have different hygienic standards and different medical options than in the days of Abraham and Mohamed.
[[Category:Pediatrician]]
[[Category:Physician]]
[[Category:Germany]]
[[de:Christoph Kupferschmid]]