11/11/2024
The National Secular Society, which campaigns against religious infiltration into the life of the state and society, has called on NHS Scotland to follow England and Wales Health Services in not offering to circumcise infant boys just to adhere to a parents' religious traditions. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024, which came into force in Scotland last week, creates a public sector duty to act in compliance with the Convention. The NSS said ritual circumcision of children violates Articles 12, 14 and 24(3) of the Convention, which enshrine a child's rights to be heard, to freedom of religion or belief, and to protection from harmful traditional practices, respectively. The letter pointed to a freedom of information request to the General Medical Council last year, which revealed boys had suffered urinary complications, bleeding requiring blood transfusion, and penile deformity following the procedure.
It also noted the NHS website lists "permanent reduction in sensation in the head of the penis" as a complication. The NSS noted the Scottish Government had, in response, set out strategies to address female genital mutilation and unnecessary surgical intervention on intersex children, but a response to the ritual circumcision of boys was "conspicuous by its absence". National Secular Society Human Rights Lead Dr Alejandro Sanchez said: "Ritual circumcision is dangerous, irreversible and deprives the child of an important erogenous tissue. The Government should now live up to its own lofty human rights aspirations and protect children from this medically unnecessary surgery." In the United States in particular, there is a lively lobby against religious circumcision of boys and gay and bi men have taken a lead in these activist groups.
