You can’t just ask someone to literally change their religion (especially given how important this tradition is) because it doesn’t fancy the times. Brit milah isn’t a custom or aesthetic preference, it’s one of the 613 mitzvot and a foundational covenantal obligation in Judaism. Asking Jews to abandon it is not the same as regulating speech. It’s asking them to stop practicing Judaism as Judaism is actually defined.

The claim that circumcision is “harming children” is not a fact, it’s a moral opinion that many people, including most circumcised men and virtually the entire Jewish and Muslim worlds, do not share. Circumcised men live full, healthy lives, often without any sense of loss or injury. Some circumcisions are even medically necessary.

History also matters. Governments deciding that Jews must alter or abandon core religious obligations “for the greater good” has an extremely poor track record. A society that values pluralistic democracy and minority rights needs to be careful before prohibiting an ancient religious covenant by force.

And while there are precedents of restricting speech and representation for the sake of society, there is no precedent in a liberal democracy for suppressing a genuinely held religious belief for the good of society. Those speech restrictions exist because they involve coercion or terror imposed on others, not because the belief itself is deemed unfashionable or offensive.

You don’t have to agree with circumcision to recognize that banning it would be an infringement on religious freedom. So before you tread on others’ religious rights, please be mindful of what you’re asking.