Brian D Earp Robert Darby: Circumcision, Autonomy and Public Health

    Diese Seite verwendet Cookies. Durch die Nutzung unserer Seite erklären Sie sich damit einverstanden, dass wir Cookies setzen. Weitere Informationen

    • Brian D Earp Robert Darby: Circumcision, Autonomy and Public Health

      Abstract


      Male circumcision—partial or total removal of the penile prepuce—has been proposed as a public health measure in Sub-Saharan Africa, based on the results of three randomized control trials (RCTs) showing a relative risk reduction of approximately 60 per cent for voluntary, adult male circumcision against female-to-male human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission in that context. More recently, long-time advocates of infant male circumcision have argued that these findings justify involuntary circumcision of babies and children in dissimilar public health environments, such as the USA, Australasia and Europe. In this article, we take a close look at the necessary ethical and empirical steps that would be needed to bridge the gap between the African RCTs and responsible public health policy in developed countries. In the course of doing so, we discuss some of the main disagreements about the moral permissibility of performing a nontherapeutic surgery on a child to benefit potential future sexual partners of his. In this context, we raise concerns not only about weaknesses in the available evidence concerning such claims of benefit, but also about a child’s moral interest in future autonomy and the preservation of his bodily integrity. We conclude that circumcision of minors in developed countries on public health grounds is much harder to justify than proponents of the surgery suggest.
      academic.oup.com/phe/advance-a…1?redirectedFrom=fulltext
      Deutscher Bundestag 2013: "Mädchen sind toll, so wie sie sind. Und niemand hat das Recht ihnen weh zu tun und an ihrer Vulva etwas abzuschneiden"
      Deutscher Bundestag 2012: "Jungen sind nicht unbedingt toll, so wie sie sind. Und alle Eltern haben das Recht ihnen weh zu tun und an ihrem Penis etwas abzuschneiden"