The mother of a four-year-old son, Heather Hironomus, tearfully signed an order allowing for the circumcision of her boy, so that she could be released from prison. The event has stirred a national debate about the necessity of circumcision, and the question of whether all children should be allowed the right to bodily integrity.
Hironomus was imprisoned after she fled with her son, attempting to avoid the fulfillment of an agreement with the boy’s father that would see him circumcised. She’s now taken center stage on the issue, with anti-circumcision activists rallying to her cause, raising $50,000 in legal bills to defend her son, Chase Hironomus. The father wishes to circumcise the boy so that he looks like him.
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Currently, the laws in the United States protect girls from the practice of female genital mutilation, but not boys. While some studies argue that there are health benefits to circumcising boys, such arguments would never be allowed as evidence if applied to girls. The arguments that a reduction in the number of STD’s for the removal of foreskin would be roundly pilloried if applied to the female sex. So why is there a societal double standard?
Today’s episode of the Freedom Report podcast takes a look at this divisive issue, and asks why do girls have special rights that boys don’t share?