SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND)- A group of demonstrators gathered outside the Illinois Capitol Tuesday as part of a national protest against infant male circumcision.

Jessica Rigdon, a registered nurse from Southern Illinois who took part in the protest, said she objects to the practice on ethical grounds and compared infant male circumcision to genital mutilation of girls.

“Currently, Illinois Medicaid covers the cost of this procedure, and they told me on the phone yesterday that they only cover medically necessary procedures,” Rigdon said. “Circumcision is not medically necessary, so they are wasting our tax dollars on infants that are not able to consent (to circumcision).”

A 2014 CDC draft policy suggested benefits from male circumcision. It cited a 2012 American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement.

“Systematic evaluation of English-language peer-reviewed literature … indicates that preventative health benefits of elective circumcision of male newborns outweigh the risks of the procedure,” according to the policy statement. “Benefits include significant reductions in the risk of urinary tract infection in the first year of life, and, subsequently, in the risk of heterosexual acquisition of HIV and the transmission of other sexually transmitted diseases.”

The statement added that “parents should ultimately decide whether circumcision is in the best interests of their male child.”

Critics of the CDC’s policy argue it relies to heavily on study results from studies of circumcision of adult men in Africa and that it relies on incomplete data on post-circumcision complications.

Earlier this year, lawmakers in Iceland considered a bill banning infant male circumcision, a proposal that drew heavy criticism from religious groups.

“You can choose whatever religion you want, change your body or not change your body however you want at the age of 18,” said demonstrator Leslie White. “To do something under the guise of religion to a minor is forcing your religion onto them.”