German doctors asked to cease circumcisions until court ruling clarified

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(CBS/AP) The German government sought to reassure Jewish and Muslim parents Friday that they will continue to be able to circumcise their sons according to religious tradition, despite a local court's ruling that the practice amounts to bodily harm.

Israeli parliament slams German circumcision ban
German court rules circumcision goes against "fundamental right of the child to bodily integrity"

Muslim and Jewish leaders had protested the Cologne court decision in the case of a 4-year-old boy who suffered medical complications after the procedure. The head of the German Medical Association recommended this week that doctors cease performing circumcisions for religious reasons until the law can be clarified.

"We want Jewish, we want Muslim religious life in Germany," said German government spokesman Steffen Seibert. "Circumcision carried out responsibly must be possible in this country without legal punishment," he told reporters in Berlin.

Officials said the government was examining various legal options and seeking a quick solution to resolve the issue. Jewish tradition requires that boys be circumcised eight days after birth.

Germany is sensitive to criticism about its treatment of religious communities due to the country's history of persecuting Jews that reached a climax during Adolf Hitler's Third Reich.

The regional court in Cologne said in June that circumcision went against the "fundamental right of the child to bodily integrity outweighed the fundamental rights of the parents." The court added that religious freedom would not be curtailed because the child would be able to choose later whether he wanted to have a circumcision. If the parents decided for the boy, the court said, it changed the body of the child "irreparably and permanently" and went against the child's rights to choose his religious beliefs.

The American Academy of Pediatrics leaves the decision of circumcision up to the parents, and says in its position statement that the procedure may reduce risk for bladder infections and HIV/AIDS, but referenced anecdotal evidence of decreased sensation and a risk for infection from the procedure.

[MominNYC]

The Dalai Lama worrued about his own people asked Jewish leaders what was the trick for our survival all these eons. A rabbi answered because we practice the bulk of our religion in our homes. We are not religious fanatics,, but it was important to us to maintain this. Judaism is always hanging on a thread. Askenazis have a particularly high intermarriage rate. Even though I had an orthodox conversion, my kids where jealous of their Christian cousins holidays. For awhile, much to my chagrin, they kept saying thy were half Christian to their friends because they so wanted to be in the majority. This is not just about religion but maintaining cultural identity. My husband is pretty much an atheist, so why do we bother with all this nonsense - including an orthodox wedding. Because, there is something to be said for performing that same rituals passed down from time immemorial. Tomorrow we are burying my children's grandfather who survived Auschwitz at 13. Trust me, he was pretty angry at God. But I still remember that day he carried his grandson over to the mohel. It was his victory lap.

[reveilebnon]

The Old Testament declared that in order to be right with God, a man must be circumcised. But Why would a God who supposedly created the entire universe and billions of stars give a care about the foreskin on a man's *****? This is beyond stupidity! And the early church actually debated about whether to keep this silly circumcision rule. This should show that it is an entirely ancient man-made rule with delusions of a God watching over the private moments of several billion people, past and present. It was a good scare tactic in ancient times, but more modern people are seeing that it is a ruse for a clergy/religious society to try to rule everybody else.

[retiredgustav]

The difference between the bible and Grim's Fairy tale is that one begins with "Once upon a time" and the other with "In the beginning there was light". Other than that they are the same.

[liberalmike]

I think you're onto something here..........don't beleive everything you read and show me PROOF that god exists for I have yet to see any real proof!

[pingpaul]

In a long-held Jewish and Muslim tradition, circumcision of males is a religious requirement. Parents, not governments, decide the religious tradition in which a child shall be raised. Outlawing the practice of circumcision is an intrusion into the God-given responsibilities of the parents. Religiously, it is the defacto declaration by the State that a child is an atheist, a State-sponsored religion. The Nazis, Soviets, and most recently, the Iranians have illustrated what happens when state and religion merge.

[tmonta67]

The picture with the article says it all.

[Hugh_Intactive]

The Cologne court weighed the parents' freedom to cut part off a healthy child with the child's freedom to choose for himself, when he is old enough, whether to have that part cut off, and rightly came down on the owner's side. The issue has been lying dormant since the Basic Law was passed in 1949 - with strong human rights provisions precisely because of the horrors Germans had just endured.

Any higher court will be in a bind if it tries to change it now, to allow any cutting of male babies, to forbid any cutting of female babies, AND to ensure equality of the sexes.

[RonaldGoldmanPhD]

Studies show that circumcision causes significant pain and trauma, behavioral and neurological changes in infants, potential parental stress from persistent crying (colic) of infants, disrupted bonding between parent and child, and risk of surgical complications. Other consequences of circumcision include loss of a natural, healthy, functioning body part, reduced sexual pleasure, potential psychological problems, and unknown negative effects that have not been studied.

Some circumcised men resent that they are circumcised. Sexual anxieties, reduced emotional expression, low self-esteem, avoidance of intimacy, and depression are also reported. Some doctors refuse to perform circumcisions because of ethical reasons. Relying on the presumed authorities (e.g., American Academy of Pediatrics or doctors who echo AAP views) is not sufficient. For more information see http://www.circumcision.org.

[Ulgnud]

I do not understand why it is the business of any government to interfere in a personal medical issue. The only role Government may have is to insure this procedure is done with the same level of cleanliness and professionalism as any other medical procedure.

[bicycle_rider]

Didn't three municipalities in California recently try the same BS that this German court is engaging? Why, yes, they did as they were predominantly homosexual communities. One world order aka homofascism/nazism, slowly creeping back in. Thank the founding fathers for their foresight in including the Bill of Rights into the COTUS. Now to deal with the continual assault on the COTUS by progressives/libertarians aka social liberals.

[RATS-R-US]

Kill 6 million of them, then tell them circumcision is okay? What will the Reich be up to next! Honestly, I don't like germans OR jews...

www.animalsversusgreatsatan.com

[eransadeh]

Nothing the German Chancellor Merkel adds to the book of laws can make circumcision right.

When an adult brings a knife to a baby's ***** and cuts a part of it off it is an assault which results in a permanent bodily damage, and so it violates the child's right to bodily integrity.

This attempt to appease Rabbis and Imams puts Merkel in a direct conflict with constitutional human rights.

Freedom of religion does not give parents permission to bring a knife to their children's genitals and permanently alter it.