Legality of Circumcision: The United States of America

This page indexes and links discussions of the position of male and female circumcision under the law in the United States of America.

In December 2004, Edwin Bruce Baxter was convicted in Clark County, Washington of second degree child assault because he attempted to circumcise his eight-year-old son (State v. Edwin Bruce Baxter, case no. 04-1-01764-5.) He was sentenced to serve 36 months in jail.²³

Library Holdings

1. William E. Brigman. Circumcision as Child Abuse: The Legal and Constitutional Issues, 23 J Fam Law 337 (1985).
2. American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Bioethics. Informed consent, parental permission, and assent in pediatric practice. Pediatrics 1995;95(2):314-317.
3. Robert S. Van Howe MD FAAP. Can Informed Consent be Obtained?
4. David J. Llewellyn JD. Legal Remedies for Penile Torts. The Compleat Mother, Winter 1995.
5. Richard Angell. Letter. San Jose Mercury News, December, 1996.
6. NorthDakota1 13-Jun-96 01:04 13K
7. NorthDakota2 13-Jun-96 22:16 7K
8. Voskuil-ND 27-Feb-96 15:47 23K
9. bismarck-tribune1 03-May-96 10:07 3K
10. Mohel Sued
11. Supreme Court strikes down religion immunity. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Thursday, June 26, 1997.
12. Abbie J. Chessler, Justifying the Unjustifable: Rite v. Wrong, 45 Buffalo L. Rev. 555 (1997).
13. Doriane Lambelet Coleman, The Seattle Compromise: Multicultural Sensitivity and Americanization, 47 DUKE L.J. 717, 739 (1998).
14. Ross Povenmire. Do Parents Have the Legal Authority to Consent to the Surgical Amputation of Normal, Healthy Tissue From Their Infant Children?: The Practice of Circumcision in the United States. 7 Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law 87 (1998-1999).
15. Shea Lita Bond. Female Circumcision and the Equal Protection Clause. 32 John Marshall L. Rev. 353 (1999).
16. J. Steven Svoboda, Robert S. Van Howe, James G. Dwyer, Informed Consent for Neonatal Circumcision: An Ethical and Legal Conundrum. 17 J Contemporary Health Law Policy 61 (2000).
17. Dena S. Davis. Male and Female Genital Alteration: A Collision Course with the Law? 11 Health Matrix: Journal of Law-Medicine 487 (2001).
18. Canning DA. Informed consent for neonatal circumcision: an ethical and legal conundrum. J Urol 2002;168 (4 Pt 1): 1650-1.
19. Geoffrey P. Miller. Circumcision: Cultural-Legal Analysis. 9 Va. J. Soc. Pol'y & L. 497 (2002).
20. Patricia L. Martin. Moving Toward An International Standard In Informed Consent: The Impact Of Intersexuality And The Internet On The Standard Of Care. 9 Duke J. Gender L. & Pol'y 135 (2003).
21. Sarah E. Waldeck. Using Circumcision to Understand Social Norms. 72 University of Cincinnati Law Rev 455 (2003).
22. Kate Haas. Who will make room for the intersexed? 30 Am J Law Med 41 (2004).
23. Stephanie Rice. Circumcision Attempt—Father sentenced to three years. The Columbian, Vancouver, Washington, Thursday, December 16, 2004.
24. State v. Baxter. Washington Court of Appeal, Division Two. Case No. 32766-0-II, August 15, 2006.
25. Boldt v. Boldt. Supreme Court of Oregon, Case No. SC S054714, January 25, 2008.
26. Peter W. Adler. Is it lawful to use Medicaid to pay for circumcision. 19 J. Law Med. 335 (2011)
27. Peter W. Adler. Is Circumcision Legal? 16(3) Richmond J. L. & Pub. Int. 439 (2013).