An Examination of Legal and Ethical Issues Surrounding Male Circumcision: The Canadian Context

International Journal of Men's Health 205-222 (4:2), 2005

19 Pages Posted: 17 Aug 2013

See all articles by Suzanne Bouclin

Suzanne Bouclin

University of Ottawa - Common Law Section

Date Written: June 18, 2013

Abstract

Despite shifts in the discourses adopted and reinforced within the Canadian medical community and the international community, routine neo-natal male circumcision remains fairly normalized. Focusing on the Canadian context, this paper outlines the health-based and legal arguments against elective infant male circumcision. Part one provides an overview of routine neo-natal male circumcision and deals with the crucial distinction between therapeutic and non-therapeutic intervention. It locates elective neo-natal male circumcision within the non-therapeutic category. Part two outlines the theoretical underpinnings for medical consent in the Canadian context, and discusses the legal requirements for 'informed consent'. The work of part three is to tease out issues of parental consent and whether parents should be entitled to substitute consent for non-medically necessary, routine, neo-natal circumcision.

Keywords: consent, health, neo-natal, law and medicine

JEL Classification: K39

Suggested Citation

Bouclin, Suzanne, An Examination of Legal and Ethical Issues Surrounding Male Circumcision: The Canadian Context (June 18, 2013). International Journal of Men's Health 205-222 (4:2), 2005, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2281064

Suzanne Bouclin (Contact Author)

University of Ottawa - Common Law Section ( email )

57 Louis Pasteur Street
Ottawa, K1N 6N5
Canada

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