Attorneys for the Rights of the Child was asked and I agreed to write a friend of the court brief or amicus curiae brief for the case filed in Oregon by Intact Global, claiming that given Oregon’s law against female genital mutilation (FGM), and given the equal protection enshrined in Oregon’s state constitution, males also have a right to protection under the law from male genital mutilation (MGM).
My amicus brief was filed just yesterday, September 12, 2026. Our amicus brief explains the legal basis, including numerous expert statements and also cases and legal doctrines, supporting claims for protection of children from MGM as well as FGM.
The amicus brief was something we were pleased to be able to write and I rank it as one of our four greatest achievements, along with our 43 newsletters issued from 2001 to present updating the world on the progress of ARC and the intactivist movement, putting MGM on the official United Nations record as a human rights violation in 2002 (https://ap.ohchr.org/documents/alldocs.aspx?doc_id=7400, first item on page) and unofficially winning a debate against Michael Brady of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Task Force on Circumcision at the Medical University of South Carolina about the ethics and legality of MGM.
The amicus brief can be found here. A motion for summary judgment is being heard on Monday morning September 14, and if our side prevails, the case will be heard in court.
We heartily wish Intact Global the best of luck on Monday.
Steven Svoboda
Attorneys for the Rights of the Child
www.arclaw.org