Is the circumcision of male babies a form of child abuse?

Yes. No-one should ever perform any kind of surgery on another person without their consent without a medical reason. If an adult man wants to be circumcised for whatever reason that's up to him, but to take a tiny vulnerable person and hurt them like that when they can't possibly understand what's going on is dreadful.

People talk about "painless" methods of circumcision that don't involve any cutting, but actually there is no such thing. If you're considering having your son circumcised, have a look at one of the many videos online of the procedure being done and you will get a better idea of what actually happens. Every type of circumcision involves cutting, even the plastibell method where the foreskin is stretched over a ring to rot until it falls off. Even just being strapped down for the procedure, spread-eagled, the opposite of the swaddling babies find so comforting, is distressing to the baby, not to mention the procedure itself. They are not properly anaethnetised (if at all) because strong anaesthetics are dangerous to use on babies that young. They bleed and they scream.

And then there's the risk of infection. It's estimated that in the USA every year 117 otherwise healthy babies die as the result of circumcision from infection, shock, blood loss or botched surgery. Why would you take that risk?
http://www.circumstitions.com/death.html

I really don't understand when people say a baby should be circumcised "so he'll look like Daddy." How often in life do sons and their fathers get their penises out and compare them? If as a child he asks why his looks different from his dad's you can just explain. No biggie.

by Jennifer Muirhead

There should be. I don't know much about this, yet all should be fair for both sides.

by Justine Crowley

My three sons have never been circumcised and their ages are 36 35 21.
When people were doing it....was at the time I had the two eldest.
I just could not bring myself to do it, we are not Jewish...so I ran the other way.
It is very important if you are Jewish to have it done, and I fully respect that.
They do it on the 8th day, because that's the day there will be less complication.
But........I just could not put my babies through that, I would have been a basket case.

by jonaja

There certainly needs to be more discussion around male circumcision. There are many misconceptions surrounding circumcision. Surely it is common knowledge that there is no good reason for this procedure. Unless a person makes an informed decision to have a circumcision themselves, it shouldn't be done.

by Vee

I thought about it with my first son and decided that there was no need to go down that path - just couldn't justify putting him through that much pain when he was such a little baby. I decided that if there was a medical reason down the track he could decide himself and have been happy with that decision.

by Sarah Bell

YES!!!! Unquestionably. I have two sons and I would have never done that to them.

by Tracie Louise

Of course it's physical abuse!
Cruel, & barbaric, IMHO.

Our son was NOT circumcised!

Something we agreed upon very early.
Once he was an adult, if HE wanted to have it done, his decision, at least he'd be anaesthetised, but so far, no, & he's 31!

by donjo