German court: Child circumcision 'an assault'

billybob · June 27, 2012

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/06/201262743137489117.html

Circumcising young boys on religious grounds amounts to grievous bodily harm, a German court has ruled.

The regional court in Cologne, western Germany, ruled on Tuesday that the "fundamental right of the child to bodily integrity outweighed the fundamental rights of the parents", a judgement that is expected to set a legal precedent.

"The religious freedom of the parents and their right to educate their child would not be unacceptably compromised, if they were obliged to wait until the child could himself decide to be circumcised," the court said.

The case was brought against a doctor in Cologne who circumcised a four-year-old Muslim boy on his parents' wishes.

A few days after the operation, with the boy bleeding heavily, his parents took him to a hospital. Prosecutors then charged the doctor with grievous bodily harm.

The doctor was acquitted by a lower court that judged he had acted within the law as the parents had given their consent.

On appeal, the regional court also acquitted the doctor but for different reasons.

The regional court upheld the original charge of grievous bodily harm but also ruled that the doctor was innocent as there was too much confusion on the legal situation around circumcision.

The court came down firmly against parents' right to have the ritual performed on young children.

'Court not scared off'

"The body of the child is irreparably and permanently changed by a circumcision," the court said. "This change contravenes the interests of the child to decide later on his religious beliefs."

The decision caused outrage in Germany's Jewish community.

The head of the Central Committee of Jews, Dieter Graumann, said the ruling was "an unprecedented and dramatic intervention in the right of religious communities to self-determination".

The judgement was an "outrageous and insensitive act. Circumcision of newborn boys is a fixed part of the Jewish religion and has been practiced worldwide for centuries," added Graumann. "This religious right is respected in every country in the world."

Holm Putzke, a criminal law expert at the University of Passau, told the Financial Times Deutschland that the ruling was "enormously important for doctors because for the first time they have legal certainty".

"Unlike many politicians, the court has not allowed itself to be scared off by charges of anti-Semitism or religious intolerance," said Putzke.

The World Health Organisation has estimated that nearly one in three males under 15 is circumcised. In the United States, the operation is often performed for hygiene reasons on infants.

Thousands of young boys are circumcised every year in Germany, especially in the country's large Jewish and Muslim communities.

The court specified that circumcision was not illegal if carried out for medical reasons.

sandimoon · June 28, 2012

I have no opinion either way as to cut/uncut.

Have had BF of both persuasions & it makes no never mind to my happy places!

But I have a real problem with government intrusion

to this extent in regards to parenting & religious freedoms.

This ruling is absolutely frightening.

An elective surgery on a toddler is vastly different than one

done on a newborn during an appropriate time frame.

And I don't care why they wanted it,

at age 4 it is major surgery & I see no good reason for it

since people who choose this for religious/cultural reasons

do so BEFORE they are born. 4 years old???WTF?

These 2 idiot parents waited too long to have

it done properly & an incompetent doctor not only performed it but botched it.

So now they are now going to negate the rights of responsible persons,

whose religious doctrine mandates it be performed,

however always by qualified professionals.

Talk about knee jerk!

My sister & husband had their boys done & mainly so they

would look like their father & locker room friends.

You know, peeing, hygiene, " the talk ".

In Ontario it IS elective, considered medically unnecessary & wasn't covered.

But they were fine with that & so am I.

I do not feel state covered health benefits should cover one's religious/cultural/family choices.

But to infringe on the right to do it no matter the reason, due to one bad case????

This is a slippery slope & I truly hope it is overturned.

I mean what's next, you can't vaccinate them?

How about pierce their ears?

Where does it end???

Scary!!!

Sandi

Phaedrus · June 29, 2012

This ruling isn't about government intervention, or not. It's about rights. Does the child's right to bodily integrity outweigh the parents' right to exercise their religious beliefs, or not? The German court has simply ruled in favor of the child.

Personally, I think it's a fantastic decision. I don't see how mutilating children is justifiable. Any child that grows up wanting to be circumcised for religious or cultural reasons or simply for shits 'n giggles is entirely at liberty to do so; the point is that it's *their* decision, not anyone else's.

What I find odd is that a decision like this relating to female circumcision would be entirely uncontroversial. Granted, the female variety involves rather more cutting... but the difference is one of degree, rather than anything fundamental. It's all about hacking off bits of a child's genitalia in both cases.