Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies Faculty Works
https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/26930
2024-03-29T13:07:39ZThe Irrelevance of Data to the Ethics of Intersex Surgery
https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/26931
The Irrelevance of Data to the Ethics of Intersex Surgery
Reis, Elizabeth; Reis-Dennis, Samuel
In this article we argue that early infant genital surgery violates
children’s rights against the irreversible physical shaping of
their sexual and reproductive identity. In making this case, we reject
what has been the guiding assumption of the debate over
early surgery, namely that the welfare of the child patient is paramount.
One result of this assumption has been an interest in data
that would support or refute claims about the relationship between
early surgery and child welfare. Our argument, which emphasizes
children’s rights, is that such data are irrelevant to the ethics of
these surgical interventions.
3 pages
2021-01-01T00:00:00Z