All posts tagged: circumcision

NSS-led coalition calls for parliamentary inquiry on circumcision

NSS-led coalition calls for parliamentary inquiry on circumcision

Published by Sam Flores

A coalition coordinated by the National Secular Society has urged Parliament’s health and social care committee to launch an inquiry into the non-therapeutic circumcision of boys. The call came in a letter from 14 signatories including the National Secular Society, circumcision support charity 15 Square, doctors, and families harmed by non-therapeutic circumcision. Liberal Democrat peer Paul Scriven and human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell also signed. The letter noted there is no legal requirement that circumcisers be medically trained, and non-medical circumcisers are entirely unregulated. “This arrangement is endangering the health and lives of children”, it said. It said non-therapeutic circumcision is “ethically and legally anomalous” in that “the youngest and most vulnerable are afforded the fewest protections”. Circumcising an adult without his consent would constitute grievous bodily harm. British Medical Association (BMA) guidance states: “The BMA cannot envisage a situation in which it is ethically acceptable to circumcise a child who refuses the procedure, irrespective of the parents’ wishes.” Therefore, it is those youngest children, who “have no voice and who cannot consent, who are …

‘No anaesthesia’ ritual circumcision charity reported to regulator

‘No anaesthesia’ ritual circumcision charity reported to regulator

Published by Sam Flores

The National Secular Society has reported a charity which facilitates unanaesthetised ritual circumcisions of boys to the regulator. The Initiation Society, which facilitates “the initiation of male Jewish children into the Covenant of Abraham”, is registered under the charitable purpose ‘the advancement of religion’. It trains and accredits ritual circumcisers, also known as mohelim in Judaism. An FAQ on the charity’s website includes the question: “Are babies anaesthetised during a Bris?”. Bris refers to the Jewish “covenant of circumcision”. The answer states: “Babies are generally not anaesthetised during a Bris.” [emphasis original] Charities are legally required to act for the public benefit. Unanaesthetised circumcision “gratuitous infliction of pain” The NSS and 15 Square, a charity which supports men with circumcision related issues, also called for a review of the Initiation Society’s charitable status in a joint letter to Charity Commission chief executive David Holdsworth. The letter said unanaesthetised circumcisions constitute a “gratuitous infliction of pain”, contradict medical guidance, and are of “questionable legality”. A charity which facilitates them cannot be acting for the public benefit, …

NSS calls for boys to be protected at ritual circumcision debate

NSS calls for boys to be protected at ritual circumcision debate

Published by skeptic

Left to right: Dr Alejandro Sanchez, Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain MBE, Dr Antony Lempert, Hifsa Haroon-Iqbal OBE The National Secular Society has called for boys to be protected from ritual circumcision at a debate in central London. The debate was co-hosted by the NSS and Debate London, and took place at St Bride’s Church on Tuesday. Over 100 guests attended. The motion was “boys should not be ritually circumcised”. Proposing the motion, NSS council member Dr Antony Lempert said circumcision is a “child safeguarding anomaly” that confused a “laudable tolerance for different beliefs” with an “inappropriate deference to the unrestricted expression of those beliefs”. He said performing an irreversible surgery on people too young to form an opinion is “the antithesis of freedom of religion and belief”. Opposing the motion, Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain MBE argued that circumcision is a parent’s human right and that it should be regulated but not deferred. He said circumcision would have been abandoned as a practice if parents thought it were harmful. NSS human rights lead Dr Alejandro Sanchez …