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== The emerging consensus on surrogate consent for non-therapeutic newborn, infant, and child circumcision ==
The power of parents and other surrogates to grant consent is dependent upon the existence of a physical or medical condition in a minor child that requires diagnostic and/or treatment.<ref name="richards"/> <ref name="aap1995">{{REFjournal
|last=Committee on Bioethics
|etal=no
|title=Informed consent, parental permission, and assent in pediatric practice
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Pediatrics
|location=
|date=1995-02
|volume=95
|issue=2
|article=
|page=
|pages=314-7
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/ethics/AAP/
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=7838658
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|accessdate=2023-05-26
}}</ref> The right to grant surrogate consent cannot exist in the absence of such a condition. The AAP Committee on Bioethics (2016) now states: "A parent’s authority is not absolute but constrained by respect for the child."<ref name="aviva2016">{{REFjournal
|last=Committee on Bioethics
|etal-no
|title=Informed Consent in Decision-Making in Pediatric Practice
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=Pediatrics
|location=
|date=2016-08
|volume=138
|issue=2
|article=
|page=e20161484.
|pages=
|url=https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/138/2/e20161484/52512/Informed-Consent-in-Decision-Making-in-Pediatric?autologincheck=redirected
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=27456514
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|doi=10.1542/peds.2016-1484
|accessdate=2023-05-27
}}</ref> This may mean that the AAP now recognizes the child as a person with legal rights of his/her own.
Boys are born with a healthy [[foreskin]] that is free of disease. There are no medical indications for a neonatal [[circumcision]]. The [[medical trade association| medical trade associations]] and other promoters have put forward various alleged benefits from neonatal circumcision for decades to develop business for their physican-members.
The validity of surrogate consent for non-therapeutic circumcision of boys has been questioned for decades.<ref name="povenmire"/> <ref name="richards" /> <ref name="hill2003">{{REFjournal
|last=Hill
|first=
|init=G
|author-link=George Hill
|title=Can anyone authorize the nontherapeutic permanent alteration of a child's body?
|journal=The American Journal of Bioethics
|date=2003
|volume=3
|issue=2
|pages=16-8
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/George-Hill-3/publication/371599857_Can_Anyone_Authorize_the_Nontherapeutic_Permanent_Alteration_of_a_Child's_Body/links/648b8819c41fb852dd0949be/Can-Anyone-Authorize-the-Nontherapeutic-Permanent-Alteration-of-a-Childs-Body.pdf
|quote=
|pubmedID=14635628
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1162/152651603766436342
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2023-07-11
}}</ref>
Bioethicists Myers & Earp (2020) exhaustively reviewed the evidence for and against the alleged health benefits to a healthy person claimed for non-therapeutic circumcision of a neonate, infant or child. They balanced this against the [[pain]], [[trauma]], and loss of body tissue and function. They concluded the claimed health benefits are insufficient to support surrogate consent for non-therapeutic circumcision. Given this, only the subject can grant consent for a non-therapeutic circumcision, after he reaches the right age for circumcision, which does not occurs until a male reaches the age of consent in his jurisdiction which may vary from 16 to 18 years of age. The present practice in the [[United States]] and elsewhere of parental consent for non-therapeutic circumcision is entirely unethical.<ref name="myers2020">{{REFjournal
|last=Myers
|first=
|init=A
|author-link=Alex Myers
|last2=Earp
|first2=
|init2=BD
|author2-link=Brian D. Earp
|etal=no
|title=What is the best age to circumcise? A medical and ethical analysis
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal= Bioethics
|location=
|date=2020
|volume=34
|issue=7
|pages=645-63
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brian-Earp-2/publication/337720859_What_Is_the_Best_Age_to_Circumcise_A_Medical_and_Ethical_Analysis/links/5f815f61a6fdccfd7b555395/What-Is-the-Best-Age-to-Circumcise-A-Medical-and-Ethical-Analysis.pdf
|archived=
|quote=Based on a careful consideration of the relevant evidence, arguments and counterarguments, we conclude that medically unnecessary penile circumcision-like other medically unnecessary genital procedures, such as 'cosmetic' labiaplasty-should not be performed on individuals who are too young (or otherwise unable) to provide meaningful consent to the procedure.
|pubmedID=32068898
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=
|doi=10.1111/bioe.12714
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2020-05-27
}}</ref>
Moreover, non-therapeutic circumcision of boys may also be unlawful,<ref name="Adler">{{REFjournal
|last=Adler
|first=Peter W.
|init=PW
|author-link=Peter W. Adler
|url=http://rjolpi.richmond.edu/archive/Adler_Formatted.pdf
|title=Is Circumcision Legal?
|volume=16
|issue=3
|journal=Richmond J. L. & Pub. Int.
|page=439
|date=2013
}}</ref> if a court should accept Adler's arguments.
→The emerging consensus on surrogate consent for non-therapeutic newborn, infant, and child circumcision
|quote=As circumcision is irreversible and therefore a radical operation, we find the physical integrity of the child takes precedence over the belief system of the parents.
}}</ref> The process is irreversible, has no medical justification in most cases, and is performed on minors unable to give their own permission, according to the committee. Paul Schotsmans of the {{UNI|University of Leuven|UCLouvain}}, on behalf of the committee, noted "the child’s right to physical integrity, which is protected by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and in particular its protection from physical injury."<ref name="bulletin2017"/> The Belgian minister of health replied that the Federal Institute for Health Insurance cannot check and know whether in (individual cases) a circumcision is medically justified or not and that she will continue to reimburse circumcision of minors as the safety of the child is her primary concern and she wants to avoid botched circumcisions by non-medical circumcisers.
== Observations ==