Male circumcision – see the harm to get a balanced picture

The minute that the surgeon cuts the skin harm is done. The benefits of treatment have to exceed the harm before the doctor is doing any good. I write on behalf of a charity established to represent the rights of patients to avoid therapeutically unnecessary circumcision. As such I will approach the subject from the point of view that the highest standards of male health can only be achieved when the normal male sex organs are kept intact unless there is some unavoidable justification to remove a part of them. I will set the medical situation in its historical context and then examine the main ethical issues in relation to male circumcision. This discussion is purely confined to male circumcision in a medical context and in no way seeks to address circumcision performed for religious reasons. (excerpt)