The nation's most influential group of pediatricians has concluded that the benefits of circumcising newborns aren't significant enough to recommend it as a routine procedure. The American Academy of Pediatrics stopped short of advising against circumcision. But the group recommended for the first time Monday that newborns get pain relief for it.
Opponents say it leaves long-term psychological scars and diminishes sexual pleasure.
I think circumcision is now an ethical issue. It challenges us to empathize with newborn infants. Just how many newborns are circumcised annually is unclear. Federal figures show that nearly two-thirds of American boys born in 1995 were circumcised, but the pediatrics academy said those statistics were taken from too small a sample to be reliable. The new policy statement, outlined in a report in the March issue of Pediatrics, the academy's journal, says parents should take into account cultural and religious traditions as well as the advice of a pediatrician when considering circumcision.