How do you feel about parents allowing infant circumcision for religious reasons only?

Alright, so let's say we ban circumcision.

1: How will we uphold this law?

There is no way to uphold this law that would be accepted. There would be protests and their main points would be privacy and freedom of religion. Two points Americans will never budge on.

2: What would be the punishment for breaking this law?

Financial punishment does not work - it just adds a price tag to the procedure. Same for community service. Jailtime would probably work to some extent, but are you willing to tear apart the families that don't comply?

3: What if a family brings their circumsised child to a hospital because of bleeding or an infection - do you punish them?

If you do, you disincentive other parents from treating their children. If you don't, you incentivise other parents to circumcise their children - if it goes wrong, they can just take the kid to the hospital.

4: What about the children who will die to an infection?

Because they will. If 160 babies die due to circumcision when the experts do it, how many deaths do you expect when we force Jewish parents and Americans to do it at home, without the help of a doctor? Or do you think these people will just give up their traditions at the drop of a hat?

If my ideas are terrible, it's because you're shortsighted. Doing the "ethical" thing will only lead to more death and suffering.

/r/AskEurope Thread Parent