Chicago, I'll - Judge Rules 9-Year-Old Need Not Get Circumcised

Chicago, I'll - A judge ruled that a 9-year-old need not be circumcised as his mother wanted.

A dispute between the boy's divorced parents about whether to circumcise him escalated into a court case, and Cook County Judge Jordan Kaplan declared in his ruling that granting the boy's father an injunction blocking the procedure, the boy could decide for himself whether to be circumcised when he turns 18.

In a statement, the Doctors Opposing Circumcision said the judge's ruling protected "the boy's legal right to bodily integrity."
"The ruling opens a very interesting question," said the group's John Geisheker. "If the benefits of circumcision are not available to a 9-year-old, what does that say about infants?"

The practice of circumcising infant males is rare in Europe, while it is declining but remains common in the United States.