Is your argument that it is not legal?
-
-
If you are going to insist that things are ethical if they have widespread support and no widescale opposition, you have to concede that slavery, the persecution of homosexuals & the denial of rights to women were once ethical & still are in some places.
-
In which case, you are a cultural relativist and have not a leg to stand on if your own cultural norms change in a way you don't like. Much better to have consistent principles of human rights than to go with the majority view.
-
I don't think you can say 'cultural relativist' when the culture you are describing is all humanity. What polity in the world outlaws circumcision? It's your position that is eccentric.
-
The argument 'It's right if the majority thinks it is' is what is culturally (and temporally) relative. It's not a good argument for MGM if you want to argue against this in other areas - eg women's and LGBT rights.
- 1 more reply
New conversation -
-
-
If you think that a parent has no right to agree a tonsillectomy, grommets or ear piercings it doesn't work logically, but they do have that right.
-
I can just think consistently that parents have no right to order a medically unnecessary surgical procedure on a child who is too young to consent & in nearly every other case, the law upholds this. They have no right to withhold medically necessary surgery either.
-
I don't think 'medically unnecessary' is as strict a definition as you think. Under the NHS lots of cosmetic surgery is considered medically necessary.
-
Make an argument for it being ethical to perform cosmetic surgery on baby boys' genitals but not baby girls, if you can.
-
I don't have to. One is legal, the other is not.
-
Of course you don't have to make an ethical argument for MGM. If you don't have one, there's nothing further to discuss.
End of conversation
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.