Call to circumcise ignores the evidence

Article here. Excerpt:

'The argument for widespread circumcision relies on the proposition that we face a public health crisis to which genital surgery is the only answer. The most prominent exponent of this view, Emeritus Professor Brian Morris, has described circumcision as "a biomedical imperative for the 21st century," and is never wanting pulpits from which to preach his gloomy message. As the American biologist P.Z. Myers points out, in a reply to to his latest offensive, there is nothing much new here; he has been peddling this sort of stuff for over a decade.

But whatever disease-related problems Africa faces, such as HIV – for which adult (not child) circumcision has been proposed – there is no evidence that any developed nation is threatened with any such crisis. Apart from its air of unreality, such "ten minutes to midnight" scare-mongering ignores the principles of risk management. This requires that a full assessment of consequence, likelihood, mitigation strategies and risk tolerance be undertaken before it is possible to reach any conclusions about the degree of risk inherent in taking or not taking certain actions. Individuals have different levels of risk tolerance, and they have the right to develop their own strategies for handling health risks, and striking the appropriate balance between dangers and pleasures. The health industry is not entitled to pre-empt their options.

Circumcision advocates perform a subtle logical slide. They present a mass of data and claim that it is proof that parents should circumcise their baby boys. In fact, even if their data were valid, it is merely evidence that an adult male should consider getting himself circumcised. A few cautious males might make this choice, but since most men are understandably reluctant to sacrifice a sexually significant part of their own penis, the strategy of the circumcision lobby has been not to persuade men to circumcise themselves, but to pressure parents to circumcise their children. The problem here is that if an adult male would not elect such an operation for himself, it is ethically wrong to force it on somebody else merely because he lacks the power to resist.'