circumcision is

Unhealthy

Medical Organizations Reject Circumcision

“The official viewpoint of KNMG and other related medical/scientific organizations is that non-therapeutic circumcision of male minors is a violation of children’s rights to autonomy and physical integrity.”

“Circumcision can cause complications – bleeding, infection, urethral stricture, and panic attacks are particularly common.”

“KNMG is calling upon doctors to actively and insistently inform parents who are considering the procedure of the absence of medical benefits and the danger of complications.”

~Excerpts from KNMG (Royal Dutch Medical Association) official Circumcision Policy Statement.

Doctors don’t recommend it.

No major medical organization in the world recommends infant male circumcision.⁠4Female circumcision was legal in the USA until 1996, but Christians here generally do not practice it today. Many stand strongly against it.⁠5See a number of other statements.

Even the American Academy of Pediatrics, long considered the most circumcision-friendly major medical group, has let its 2012 policy statement automatically expire (in 2017) — and never replaced it.⁠6American Academy of Pediatrics 2012 Circumcision Policy Statement — marked expired since 2017.

Two of that 2012 policy’s own task-force members have since publicly retracted its framing. The task force’s bioethicist, Douglas Diekema, now states: “you cannot honestly say in a recommendation that the benefits outweigh the risks.”

Pediatric urologist Andrew Freedman is more direct: “There is nothing wrong with the [uncircumcised] penis; you cannot recommend circumcision based on the medical benefit alone… it’s not really a medical practice.”⁠41Buckler, M. (2025). “As controversies mount, circumcision policies need a rethink.” Journal of Medical Ethics, in press.

Dozens of doctors and heads of medical organizations published this in the AAP’s own journal, Pediatrics: “Claimed health benefits, including protection against HIV/AIDS, genital herpes, genital warts, and penile cancer, are questionable, weak, and… do not represent compelling reasons for surgery before boys are old enough to decide for themselves.”⁠7Frisch, M., Aigrain, Y., et al. (2013). “Cultural Bias in the AAP’s 2012 Technical Report and Policy Statement on Male Circumcision.” Pediatrics, peds. 2012–2896.

Circumcision offers no real health benefits.

There are some “claimed health benefits.”

Some studies say that the foreskin is less likely to become diseased if it is absent. This is painfully obvious. It is true with any body part and is no cause to remove healthy, functional tissue designed by God.

We are much more likely to develop serious testicular or tooth problems than foreskin problems. So is tooth extraction or partial castration of healthy kids appropriate? Hardly.

The incidence of foreskin problems is remarkably low. A recent study found that about 4 of 1000 boys needed circumcision later.8 Sneppen, I., & Thorup, J. (2016). “Foreskin morbidity in uncircumcised males.” Pediatrics, 137.

But about 100 of every 1000 circumcised boys experience the most common long-term circumcision complication,9 Angel, C. (2014). “Meatal Stenosis.” not to mention other complications.10“Full Disclosure: Circumcision Information for Health Professionals and Parents.” Studies claiming low complication rates only consider short-term complications.