The Case Against Surgical Moratoria on Intersex Pediatric Surgery

Abstract

Despite ethical disputes in the literature on intersex pediatric surgery, there is no defensible argument for a surgical moratorium on intersex pediatric surgery, and consequently intersex pediatric surgery is sometimes morally permissible. To argue for this claim, this work proceeds in four parts. The first part begins by setting the philosophical and clinical stage by defining biological sex, intersex conditions, and intersex pediatric surgery. The second is to illustrate and contrast contemporary clinical practice and the ethical literature, predominantly secular, on the ethics of the surgery, highlighting areas of overlap and disagreement. The third is to appraise contemporary secular arguments against intersex pediatric surgery, specifically those which are representative of the strongest arguments against it. The fourth is to criticize the secular ethical discourse, and consequently motivate, in light of the poverty of argumentation in the secular literature, the need for a robust natural law evaluation of intersex pediatric surgery.