Closed petition regulation of circumcision

Closed on 18 December 2013

We, the undersigned, call on the government to introduce legal regulation of the circumcision of male babies and children.

In Greater Manchester, Goodluck Caubergs, aged 27 days, died of loss of blood after a home-based circumcision conducted with scissors, warm water and olive oil, and without any form of pain relief. The person who conducted the operation has now been convicted of manslaughter.

The verdict follows a coroner's court ruling of accidental death in the case of Angelo Ofori-Mintah, who died in London following a home-based circumcision. His parents were advised by a rabbi to treat excessive bleeding with petroleum jelly.

There is extensive evidence that medical complications following male circumcision are common in many parts of the United Kingdom.

We urge the government to regulate circumcision to ensure it is only conducted by trained and registered or medically qualified practitioners, under clinical conditions and with anaesthetic.