Human Rights Group Says All Circumcisers Should be Arrested

SAN DIEGO, California – A San Diego based human rights group, MGMbill.org, called for all circumcisers to be arrested after a Ridgefield, Washington, man was charged with assault for attempting to circumcise his eight-year-old son with a kitchen knife. The boy’s 33-year-old father, Edwin Baxter, said he was inspired to cut off part of his son’s penis after reading the Bible.

“I commend the Clark County Prosecutor’s Office for bringing assault charges against the perpetrator of this crime,” said Matthew Hess, President of MGMbill.org. “But what about the more than one million other boys in this country who are circumcised each year without their consent in hospitals and religious ceremonies? The rights of those boys are violated just as grievously as the rights of this frightened eight-year-old boy in Ridgefield.”

Hess continued by saying that the U.S. uses a double standard when it comes to circumcision. “We have a blatantly discriminatory circumcision policy in this country,” said Hess. “Doctors and mohels who circumcise girls are thrown into prison, but if those same doctors and mohels circumcise boys, they are rewarded with a paycheck – even though circumcision impairs sexual function in both genders.”

With both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association advising against circumcision, more people are questioning why the sexually damaging procedure is still being widely performed on baby boys who cannot give their consent. A bill proposal circulating in Congress called the “MGM Bill” (Male Genital Mutilation Bill) would amend current law to add protection for boys, but it has yet to find a legislative sponsor.