Correspondent:

DR. PETER SINGER
Director, Joint Centre for Bioethics
University of Toronto

I am concerned about the practice of infant male circumcision. It is my understanding that all wounding of one person by another person is criminal assault unless it can be justified, and that a therapeutic aim is the only possible justification for wounding a person unable to consent for himself. Consequently any physician who circumcises a child must be able to show that the procedure is medically necessary.

For your information, I enclose a letter I have written to Dr. John Gray, President of the Ontario Medical Association, in connection with statements made recently in the press by the chair of the paediatrics section, Dr. Roland Beaulieu.

I wonder if you could tell me whether or not the Joint Centre for Bioethics has made any statements in connection with this issue.

Sincerely,
 
[signed]
 
D ennis H arrison
 

---

19 August, 1998

Dear Mr. H arrison,

Thank you for your letter of 14 August, 1998 regarding infant circumcision.

You inquired about whether or not the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics has made any statements in connection with this issue.

As stated in our Mission, Vision, values, and Goals Statement, the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics "does not advocate positions on specific issues, although its individual members may do so."

With best regards.

Yours sincerely,
 
[signed]
 
Peter A. Singer, MD, MPH, FRCPC
Sun Life Chair in Bioethics and Director
 

---

April 13, 2000

Dear Mr. Barichello,

Thank you for your letter of April 12, 2000, which I'm writing to acknowledge.

I am sorry but I will not have time to respond to the questions you ask in your letters. I wish you good luck with your work.

With best regards.