Lawsuit Sparks Debate from Parental Rights Groups on Circumcision

The Chicago Tribune reports that a Chicago-area lawsuit may cut apart the medical community and parental rights' groups.

In July, an undisclosed father of an 8 year-old boy is suing his ex-wife in an attempt to prevent his son's circumcision. The parents were divorced in 2003 and awarded joint custody, giving them equal input on medical decisions.

The boy's father believes the circumcision is unneeded and describes the operation as mutilation. The mother claims that the operation is medically necessary as the boy has suffered at least 4 genital infections in the last year.

Doctors for both sides have testified, with one side arguing there is no medical reason to remove the boy's foreskin, and the other side offering expert advice on circumcision as a way to prevent further problems.

Tracy Rizzo, the mother's lawyer, says that the father is opposed to procedure because he resents his former wife's remarriage to a Jewish man.

"The father has made this more of a political issue and nothing to do with medicine," she said.