[Circumcision of boys--a child's right versus parents' right]

Male circumcision was practiced long before Abraham established a covenant with God to the effect that he should circumcize himself and all male members of his house. Thereafter it has become a potent religion-ethnic commandment also in the Islamic world, although it is not mentioned in the Koran. Several million boys are circumcised yearly in for instance traditional Africa and the USA (in the USA originally as prophylaxis against masturbation). In Sweden the yearly figure is some 3000 boys. A comprehensive review of the literature reveals that there are no or only marginal medical benefits of the operation, particularly in view of the fact that up to 10% suffer complications, and also that newborns both experience pain and will respond more strongly to new pain stimuli for years to come. There are two opposing interests--those related to the religious tradition and those related to the welfare of the child as expressed in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.