We are pleased to announce that an article by ARC’s Legal Advisor, Peter W. Adler, “Is Circumcision Legal?”, has been published in the Spring 2013 issue of the Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest.

In his article, Peter Adler shows that in the 21st century, the material facts about circumcision are known and the law is clear. Circumcision is dangerous, harms all boys and men, benefits few, if any, and any benefits can be achieved more easily and effectively without it. Boys, like girls and adults, have an absolute right to genital integrity under the common law, constitutional law, criminal law, tort law, and human rights law. Physicians cannot ethically or lawfully operate on healthy children, and parents’ religious or other beliefs are of no account. In fact, physicians and parents have a duty to protect their children from non-therapeutic genital cutting. Circumcision is illegal: let us count the ways.

A PDF of Adler’s article is attached below. The full Spring 2013 issue can be accessed here: http://rjolpi.richmond.edu/archive/Volume_XVI_Issue_3.pdf.

Peter W. Adler “Is Circumcision Legal?” Journal of Law and Public Interest, University of Richmond