Slogan:The foreskin is not a birth defect - Definition and Overview

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The slogan "the foreskin is not a birth defect" asserts the genital integrity position that male genitals of a human being are designed properly and do not usually require genital modification and mutilation or male circumcision of the foreskin of a newborn.

The slogan casts the debate of infant circumcision in terms of personal rights of the man and the rights of him to retain his healthy, living tissues. It implies that the decision about whether to undergo plastic surgery or amputations should be made by the man involved, and should be protected by the United States Constitution under rights to life, liberty, and property, and under the principle of Equal Protection.

The chief argument against this position, as asserted by circumcision advocates, maintains that the choice may be made by doctors or parents to perform genital alterations they might desire or consider healthy. Moreover, for those who consider foreskin to be a birth defect, all reasonable effort ought to be made to sever the organ to make the child match his father.

See also

• Bioethics of neonatal circumcision
• Medical analysis of circumcision