The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has now affirmed the medical value of circumcision. The official guidelines state that the medical evidence supports circumcision and that health insurers should pay for it.
Jews need no external confirmation of the age-old Jewish ritual stretching back to the Patriarch Abraham — the ritual that crosses all Jewish denominational boundaries across the world. However, in an age of increasing anti-Semitism and of erroneous extension of personal autonomy, both of which have led many European nations to consider banning circumcision on all boys under 18, the CDC decision is important.
Research has already shown that circumcision reduces the incidence of AIDS and thus saves millions of lives. The CDC research goes further. It says that circumcision not only lowers a male’s risk of sexually transmitted diseases, but also lowers the risk of penile cancer and urinary-tract infections. “The scientific evidence is clear that the benefits outweigh the risks,” said the CDC’s Dr. Jonathan Mermin.
We have no issue with parents who do not wish to circumcise their sons. It is a personal decision. We do have an issue with those who would tell anyone, especially Jews, that it should be illegal to circumcise their eight-day-old sons.
Religious freedom alone trumps the attempt to ban circumcision on young boys. With much of Europe theoretically affirming religious freedom, but wishing to ban (or actually banning) circumcision and shechitah (ritual slaughter), one sees the return of anti-Judaism under a new guise, with, no doubt, a dollop of anti-Islam as well.
However, beyond religious freedom, it is without merit to argue that a male child’s personal autonomy dictates that parents have no right to decide on circumcision for their newborn sons. Parents do, and indeed would rightly be accused of child abuse if they did not, make medical decisions for their children throughout childhood.
It makes as much sense to deny a parent the right to circumcise his or her son as it would to deny a parent the right to subject a child to surgery for a cleft palate. On both medical and social grounds, parents are expected to take care of their children. Indeed, the nature of both parenthood and childhood is the very, very gradual assumption of autonomy by the child, with the parents’ due care, love and supervision. Circumcision is no exception.
In Colorado, circumcision is not covered by state-supervised Medicaid. That should change. In light of the CDC findings, it is no more defensible to deny coverage for circumcision than it would be for other proven, preventive health care procedures.
Like any surgery, circumcision can be dangerous. The typical case is a newborn with jaundice. There are other, more severe conditions. That is why mohelim tend to be strict in delaying a circumcision when contraindicated — typically, even more strict than physicians. The need to be careful is no different from any other surgery.
It is not enough for Jews to feel good about the CDC findings. These findings must be vigorously disseminated where misguided or anti-Semitic impulses would ban circumcision, and in AIDS-stricken regions where lives need to be saved.
Copyright © 2014 by the Intermountain Jewish News
