Petition: Demand that the U​.​S. Surgeon General Classify Newborn Circumcision as Non-Essential

Sign the Petition!

The United States Surgeon General, Dr. Jerome Adams, has called upon doctors and hospitals to stop conducting elective, non-essential surgeries during the coronavirus pandemic, to conserve personal protective equipment and other resources needed to care for patients suffering from COVID-19.

Dr. Adams’ directive applied to adult surgeries. But what about non-essential child surgeries, such as “routine” newborn circumcision?

Although it is the most common pediatric surgery performed in the United States, infant male circumcision treats no disease and serves no therapeutic purpose. The American Academy of Pediatrics has stated there is insufficient evidence to recommend circumcision for all boys. If it is not essential to circumcise baby boys in England, Europe, or Australia, how can the United States continue to circumcise baby boys in the current pandemic and beyond?

Every day, more than 3000 American baby boys undergo the amputation of their healthy, normal foreskins, a needless practice that violates their bodily autonomy, puts them at risk of infection, and consumes thousands of surgical masks, protective gloves, sterile drapes and medical supplies that could be better employed to treat sick patients and protect overworked frontline health care workers from COVID-19.

Please sign this petition and join with Intact America to demand that U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams tell doctors and hospitals to CANCEL newborn circumcisions, during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond.