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General Politics => International General Discussion => Topic started by: Tender Branson on July 26, 2012, 01:40:14 AM



Title: Hospitals, state in Austria and Switzerland suspend circumcision
Post by: Tender Branson on July 26, 2012, 01:40:14 AM
Hospitals in Austria and Switzerland suspend circumcision

Hospitals in Austria and Switzerland have banned circumcisions on infant boys citing a German court ruling that it could amount to bodily harm.

At least one Swiss hospital has banned the practice and two provinces in Austria have suspended such procedures pending legal clarification on the matter.

The governor of Vorarlberg province in Austria has ordered state-run hospitals to stop circumcisions except for health reasons until the legal situation is clarified.

He said he sees the decision in Germany, which arose from the case of a child whose circumcision led to medical complications, as a "precedence-setting judgment."

A Zurich hospital took a similar decision. "Of course we in Switzerland aren't directly affected by the Cologne ruling, but it sparked a debate about how to deal with the medical and ethical issues involved," said Marco Stuecheli, a spokesman for Zurich's Children's Hospital.

The issue has sparked an escalating row between anti-circumcision campaigners, who argue that the act breaches the child's right to bodily integrity, and faith groups who insist it is part of their religious freedom.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/austria/9427592/Hospitals-in-Austria-and-Switzerland-suspend-circumcision.html#


Title: Re: Hospitals, state in Austria and Switzerland suspend circumcision
Post by: World politics is up Schmitt creek on July 26, 2012, 02:15:38 AM
I went two decades without thinking that this would ever be a political issue anywhere, and I was happy, mostly. Call me an idealist.


Title: Re: Hospitals, state in Austria and Switzerland suspend circumcision
Post by: Tender Branson on July 29, 2012, 07:20:04 AM
The Justice Ministry has sent a letter to the Vorarlberg Governor now, which states that religious circumcisions in Austria are "totally legal", based on religious freedom and parents rights.

The suspension of circumcisions in hospitals in Vorarlberg is therefore invalid.

Also:

Quote
Multifaith call in Austria for circumcision clarity (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g6Ra_uTE4oRqlHXM35ptZcoJPKGQ?docId=CNG.6ebba5d245517495a56203960912fb92.41)

VIENNA — A row over religious circumcision in Austria that has spread from Germany made more waves Saturday after an unprecedented joint call by Jews, Muslims and Christians for unequivocal government support.

The Jewish Community (IKG), the Islamic Community of Austria (IGGiOe) and Catholic and Lutheran bishops called on Friday on Vienna to "issue a clear commitment to religious freedom and to the legality of male circumcision."

"All sides welcome that the health and justice ministries see no need to change (the legal situation) but what is missing is a clear commitment from the highest level, in other words from government leaders," the statement said.

The call came after the premier of Vorarlberg issued a provisional recommendation to hospitals in the state not to perform circumcision operations, even when it is on religious grounds, prompting considerable media coverage.

The centre-right Markus Wallner issued the call following a highly contentious June ruling by a court in the German city of Cologne that circumcision of young boys was tantamount to grievous bodily harm, a criminal act.

Unsure of its legal standing, Germany's chief medical association advised doctors who routinely perform circumcisions on baby boys on behalf of parents citing religious grounds to refrain.

The Cologne verdict provoked uproar from religious and political leaders in Israel as well as Muslim countries, with Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly saying it risked making Germany a "laughing stock".

This month German MPs adopted a cross-party motion calling on the government to protect the practice. Diplomats said the court ruling was "disastrous" to Germany's international image, particularly in light of its Nazi past.

"I see no need to act," Austrian Justice Minister Beatrix Karl said on Friday. "In Austria circumcision is not an illegal act. There also exists the fundamental right to religious freedom."

In Graz, capital of the southeastern Austrian state of Styria, the children's hospital has also decided not to carry out any more circumcisions that have not already been scheduled.

Two Swiss hospitals have also called a provisional halt.

Both Muslims and Jews practise circumcision, although the Koran does not impose it, unlike the Torah which says the procedure must be done before the eighth day of a child's life.

The Austrian IKG's honorary president Ariel Muzicant reportedly even went as far as to say that a ban "would be an attempt at another Shoah (Holocaust) ... just this time with intellectual means." The comment drew widespread criticism.


Title: Re: Hospitals, state in Austria and Switzerland suspend circumcision
Post by: Simfan34 on July 29, 2012, 11:18:20 PM
Wait, why are Austrian and Swiss hospitals basing decisions off of German court rulings?


Title: Re: Hospitals, state in Austria and Switzerland suspend circumcision
Post by: MaxQue on July 30, 2012, 01:18:31 AM
Wait, why are Austrian and Swiss hospitals basing decisions off of German court rulings?

As they said, they are concerned not by legal decision, but by the ethics and medical issues raised in the case.