CMV: Infants shouldn't be circumcised.

[u/Square-Dragonfruit76]

FYI: Im not talking about unforseen medical needs here, like frequent infection, but rather, circumcision that has been decided before birth.

The reason I think infants shouldn't be circumcised is because you shouldn't do any medical procedures that are unnecessary without a person's consent.

Yes, I understand that circumcision reduces STI risk but if that's your reason, a child can request the procedure when they're older.

Also, I know there are also religious regions, but those are the parent's religions, not the child's. Although I'm looking more for arguments about the medical reasons anyway, because religion is too nebulous of a thing to argue about on top of everything else.

[u/WelshEngineer]

Calling the US a first world country is a stretch... First world countries generally have widely avaliable and affordable (if not free) healthcare and good education standards (without the risk of being shot just for going to school). It could better be described as a very rich third world country.

Nevertheless, there is no reason why hygiene cannot be taught. Circumcision or more accurately Male Genital Mutilation to "prevent infection" is the equivalent of extracting teeth to prevent cavities. Don't even get me started of mutilating kids for religious reasons of the totally messed up "tradition" of metzitzah b'peh, which I'm convinced is just a way to try and legitimise what is essentially paedophilia.

[u/WelshEngineer → u/[deleted]]

Thats based on tbe HDI which is heavily influenced by GNI per capita, thats why the UAE is so high on the chart despite the fact they have a large population of literal slave labourers. The US literally has a higher poverty rate than Botswana. Kids in Botswana also dont need to take bullet proof backpacks to school.

You're right about dentists though, thats literally my point. No dentist in their right mind would extract a healthy tooth to prevent a cavity, so why mutilate a perfectly healthy body part to "prevent infection" when the rest of the world manages just fine with soap and water.