It is past time for American physicians to stop making excuses for non-therapeutic circumcision of boys.

The standard of care for pediatric surgery requires the medical benefits of the surgery to far outweigh the medical risks and harms or for the surgery to correct a congenital abnormality. Non-therapeutic circumcision of healthy boys does not even come close to meeting that standard of care.

Non-therapeutic circumcision is a glaring and unique exception to the ethical standards that govern all other pediatric surgery.