America is the most “non-religious” pro-circumcision nation in the world.

I want to tell you why I’m against all infant circumcisions that are not deemed medically necessary to correct a birth defect, or to treat a medical condition. Circumcisions are an archaic religious tradition that needs to end.

No loving god would require it, and no loving human should feel obligated to do this to a perfectly healthy child.

Being born with a foreskin is not a birth defect.

Being born with a clitoris and labia is not a birth defect.

I don’t agree with the genitals of babies being intentionally mutilated, scalpels severing their nerve endings and intimate tissues being removed, along with the full ability to experience sexual pleasure, sexual arousal, and the intensity of the orgasms those nerves and tissues had the potential to give. Read that again please.

Babies deserve the same basic human right to bodily integrity that we are all born with, and the same rights we all fervently demand and defend as informed adults.

In some nations it’s just an expected religious practice, ex. Islamic or Jewish. So if you’re born in one of these religious places, you’re going to be cut wether it be in a hospital by staff or on a dirt floor by relatives.

But we are talking about America the land of the free here…we have laws to protect us right?

Yet, we knowingly take this future pleasure from an infant. We do it by force, without their consent, and without anesthetic.

Americans, regardless of religious affiliation, are very likely to hand our newborn boys to a nurse; who assists the doctor in an unneeded circumcision that will cut off some of the most sensitive parts of the penis.

Did you know that several doctors have also recently been cleared of all charges, so they will be free to continue performing female genital mutilations in America without penalty?

Why are our courts remaining on the side of adult oppressors and not on the side of child victims?

When will medical professionals who perform circumcisions own the fact that it is a violation of the most sacred oath we all take…DO NO HARM?

Continued injustice has also set a new precedent for continued abuses against the rights of children of any age who cannot legally give their consent.

I also don’t think a parent’s rights to religion should supersede the rights of their children to remain free from unnecessary surgical procedures on their genitals. Period.

Religionist parents will keep seeking these procedures and doing things that harm children claiming religious freedom and keep defending their faith.

They will never report against physicians doing their bidding, of course, and therefore it will remain another way society fails to protect our children from the harms that religion imposes.

I’m just expressing what I think about it, knowing we will all keep ignoring it, granting post-traumatic acceptance, and when reason fails, we’ll just sweep it back under the rug to halt any further scrutiny of the issue.

Nobody wants to admit it was really an inhumane practice, or wrong to do it in the first place, let alone talk about putting a stop to it.

Especially after most men and millions of girls have endured it and lived on. We just don’t talk about circumcisions, or about the bad outcomes, and the loss of sensation it causes. We talk about erectile dysfunction a lot though, everyone knows what Viagra is, so I think we can start now.

What would you even do with your circumcision regrets?

Most victims and parents immediately begin to make excuses for the only culturally acceptable torture of an infant. We do it because it’s uncomfortable to talk about.

Maybe it’s because so many of us had it done and allowed it to be done to our own kids. Our kids, the ones we love and are supposed to protect, and so we know it can’t be undone.

So to deflect from the ugly truth of it, we avoid the topic altogether or double down on our defense and rationalization of an irrational medical practice.

Pain is also the fifth vital sign, so why is it routinely ignored during this ‘accepted’ medical procedure.

Even nurses like myself and doctors, are given terminology to describe it so we just filed it under normal pediatric procedures.

If we used the same thought process as any other medical procedure, how could we ever really justify it?

I couldn’t get past seeing it done in nursing school, and hearing that baby boy screaming.

Circumcision is an epidemic of unethical, medically prescribed torture plan/procedure for infants.

We, the medical community, have allowed parents to continue making uniformed and flawed decisions regarding the most intimate body parts of our children, simply because we have accepted religious tradition over  scientific truths.

We have failed to even address this issue fully as a society, and I don’t think it’s being debated as a serious fallacy in pediatric practice.

We all were taught and accepted the written opinions from American Academy of Pediatrics and the pro-circumcision committee, headed by Edgar Schoen, as a trusted source.

We adopted circumcision as an accepted practice, and as a preventive medical practice, despite the risks it poses.

Every procedure should exemplify the BEST PRACTICE MODEL of care.

This means using the best scientifically accurate information, being current with the latest technology, using evidence-based practice, always applying the most comprehensive, data rich, and peer reviewed studies to improve patient outcomes.

No it’s not about hygiene. Since when is it best practice to cut off skin instead of bathing? No it’s not about appearance, we are born this way.

No it’s not about stopping penile cancer, that’s rare and a reach at best. If this was an acceptable best practice scenario to prevent cancers, would we then begin cutting off breasts without genetic assessment, since 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer?

See how ridiculous it begins to sound when you even try to justify the unjustifiable?

So no, circumcisions should not be endorsed nor supported by anyone in the medical community as a standard or a universal practice. In my opinion it’s surgical abuse, and it’s wrong no matter which excuse you use.

Elena Allen