Manitoba child protection agencies - correspondence re infant circumcision

I am writing in regard to a practice that has become a matter of increasing public concern in recent years: infant male circumcision. I have been researching this subject for over the past month and a half, due to an unfortunate incident in which my pediatrician violated the standard of care of my son's intact (uncircumcised) penis.

While I did not know much about the ethics concerning circumcision at the time my son was born in December 1998, I have learned a lot about it since. Because of this new knowledge, I have written to my pediatrician expressing my concern over her inappropriate actions (copy enclosed). I am even more concerned about the general lack of information available both to health professionals and parents alike in Winnipeg. Whether infants are mistreated by ignorance or intent on the part of doctors and/or parents, the damage is the same. As a result, I am writing to you as an advocate for children's rights.

It has become clear to me (and many other people) that infant male circumcision is no different than infant female circumcision. In both cases, a healthy body part is removed with no medical justification, without the child's consent, and causing irreparable damage and loss of adult sexual functions. Parents defend each practice ardently citing cultural reasons, religious beliefs, aesthetics and tradition. In Canada steps have been taken to prohibit female circumcision—acknowledging it is a serious form of child abuse—yet males receive no such protection. This is discriminatory and unjustified.

As you may know, in 1996 the Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) issued a policy statement recommending that "circumcision of newborns should not be routinely performed." The American Academy of Pediatrics made a similar statement in 1999. No national or international medical organization in the world currently advocates neonatal circumcision of males as a routine measure. Clearly there is now a high level of consensus in the medical community that neonatal circumcision is not medically justified (copies of their statements are also enclosed, for your review).

Furthermore, leading Canadian ethicists Dr. Margaret Somerville (Founding Director of the McGill Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law) and Dr. Eike-Henner Kluge (Chair, Department of Philosophy, University of Victoria, and former Director of Ethics and Legal Affairs at the Canadian Medical Association) have stated that circumcision of both male and female children presents serious ethical difficulties if the operation is not medically required.

In summary, since both male and female circumcisions are medically unnecessary, I am deeply troubled that only females are currently being protected from this damaging, irreversible, excruciatingly painful form of sexual abuse. I am also concerned that pediatricians are unaware of the proper care of intact penises. I'm sure most people will agree that in the absence of medical necessity, healthy body parts should never be amputated from defenseless, unconsenting infants.

I would be interested to know your views on this issue, as well as the mission and mandate of your organization. Specifically, what is your definition of "child abuse," and why is female circumcision is recognized as abuse in Canada, but not male? Please provide any other information, references, readings, etc. that you believe may help me in researching this topic. I would like to do what I can to educate others about the non-necessity of infant circumcision as well as the proper care of intact genitals, so no other babies will suffer what my son has been through. I have also written to Health Minister Dave Chomiak because I don't understand why this nonindicated, unrecommended (and I daresay harmful) surgery is covered in Manitoba's health plan at the expense of the taxpayers. Manitoba is the only province in the country that hasn't changed this policy.

Thanks very much for your consideration of my letter. Please contact me at [phone no.] if you require further information or would like to speak to me. I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

[signed]

Name withheld

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