German Parliament Rules In Favor Of Religious Circumcisions

(VINNEWS) Berlin - The German parliament approved a resolution today in a special session, protecting the religious rights of parents to circumcise their children without their consent.

As previously reported on VIN News, a Cologne court issued a ruling in late June banning circumcision even for religious reasons on young boys, and suggested that the question of circumcision should wait until age fourteen when a boy could make that decision on his own.  According to Associated Press reports, in response to that ruling, the head of the German Medical Association recommended that doctors stop performing circumcisions for religious reasons until the legal ramifications could be clarified.

The resolution, passed today by a broad majority in the Bundestag, urged the German government to end the uncertainty regarding circumcision and take into account not only an individual’s right to physical integrity but also freedom of religious and the rights of parents to make decisions on behalf of their children.

While resolutions passed by the German parliament are not necessarily legally binding, it sends a clear message to both the Jewish and Muslim communities, as well as doctors, that lawmakers are against the circumcision ban.