Iceland MPs propose ban on circumcision of boys

We spoke to a Jewish Mohel (a doctor of circumcision) in the UK about these issues, who is qualified medically. While they wish to remain anonymous they have said,..

Furthermore they told Metro about the issue of circumcision of a baby boy without anaesthetic.

‘Orthodox Jews usually don’t like to use anaesthetic in general because it is not the ‘traditional’ method.
General anaesthetic comes with a risk of complications, doctors need a pretty urgent reason to put an eight-day-old baby to sleep!
‘For local anaesthesia, again there are different types and some Mohels are happy to employ these methods.
‘One option is an injection of a numbing agent into the nerves.
‘In theory this should numb the organ and therefore cause less pain to the child however several injections would be needed and as the anatomy is so small, it may not be precise enough to stop pain.
‘Numbing creams can be used but their use is not widespread.’

David Smith, Chief Officer of 15 Square Charity which supports men around the world who have been affected adversely by male circumcision, spoke to Metro saying,
‘We deal with numerous cases of harm each week.
‘There are many physical issues that can arise after circumcision.
‘Because this procedure is often performed in infancy, often without anaesthetic, many men also suffer mental health symptoms such as PTSD in later life.
‘Our organisation is currently training counsellors and psychotherapists to deal with this issue.’

Richard Duncker from Men Do Complain agrees with this saying,
‘The proposed ban addresses the anomaly of having a gender-specific law for genital cutting. The ban gets rid of that anomaly in Iceland.
Circumcising a male baby’s genitals is not enforced by the UK authorities as an assault or wounding as it should be, due to religious freedom.’

R2D2 schrieb:

422 isländische Ärzte unterstützen das Verbot der Kinderbeschneidung und beschreiben schwere Komplikationen

500 Icelandic physicians back bill to outlaw circumcision

Hundreds of physicians in Iceland and some of Belgium’s top doctors came out in support of a bill proposing to criminalize nonmedical circumcision of boys in the Scandinavian island nation.


The approximately 500 Icelandic physicians who backed the bill that was submitted last month to the parliament cited the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Helsinki on ethical principles.

“Potential complications should offset the benefits” of male circumcision, “which are few,” the Icelandic physicians wrote in a joint statement published Wednesday.

In Belgium, several prominent physicians, including Guy T’Sjoen of Ghent University Hospital, told the De Morgen daily they also support a ban.
“As a physician, I find it very regrettable that we have thousands of unnecessary circumcisions annually of boys who can’t have their say about it,” he said in an interview published Tuesday.

Stockholm Island will Beschneidung verbieten

Since 2006, only 21 boys under the age of 18 have been circumcised at Icelandic hospitals or private clinics, according to Iceland’s Directorate of Health. The agency could not say how many were for religious reasons.

Pinchas Goldschmidt schrieb:

“I think they should also propose that parents should not take the children skiing — or pierce their ears,”

Cut It Out


Why are most infant boys in America circumcised? Damned if I know. In most cases, it serves no medical purpose whatever; like all surgical procedures, it involves risk; it’s traumatizing and terrifying for the infant himself (just watch a few videos of this barbaric procedure performed on tiny babies, strapped spread-eagle to an operating table); and it is the permanent alteration of an individual’s body without his consent. If the desert tribal customs of Jews and Muslims had never existed, no one in their right mind would ever contemplate doing this to a newborn. And if a new religion were to emerge that required permanent genital cutting of infants, we’d rightly draw a line.

Iceland is now contemplating banning the surgery altogether, as the New York Times reports. This follows up on a slew of Scandinavian countries that have begun to outlaw what some Europeans rightly describe as the “violation of a child’s physical integrity.” The supporters of the legislation make an underappreciated point: Infant circumcision clearly violates the Hippocratic oath — first, do no harm. If there is no medical reason for operating on a tiny, very delicate penis, wrapped tightly in foreskin, and if the operation can lead to irreparable physical and psychological damage if botched, it is medically unethical.

Why Iceland is the best place in the world to be a child

Island bietet imposante Naturgewalten. Doch wie lebt es sich damit? Spätestens seit der Fußball-EM ist klar: fröhlich! Die Isländer stehen in vielen Rankings ganz oben, sogar im Glücklichsein.

Male circumcision is not the first time religion has been in conflict with children's rights, but in other cases the state––and society––has ruled it needs to end. In America, states like California have banned conversion therapy by religious—primarily Christian—groups that purport to turn LGBTQ children straight through psychological and reparative therapy(despite serious shortcomings, both scientific and moral). Jehovah’s Witnesses in the US have also had their supposed religious freedom curbed, preventing them from denying their children blood donations, a practice which is prohibited by their faith. Globally, the crackdown on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) provides a point of comparison. While FGM is almost always a far more gruesome and painful practice than that of male circumcision, many of the reasons for the prohibition of FGM relate to children's rights and protection from non-consensual genital procedures, rather than the specific level of injury inflicted upon the child.

While supporters of religiously-motivated circumcision are likely
to be slow to abandon the practice, the tides are shifting in the call
for children’s (and human) rights. If religion is to continue as a part
of modern democratic society, it must change with the times as it has
done with so many historically prevalent practices, such as slavery and
child marriage. Iceland could be the start of a global shift.

“It’s very hard to win this public debate,” Melchior said. “When one side shows pictures of innocent babies and the other side needs to explain why circumcision should be allowed, the other side loses.” That is why the local community is focusing on lobbying lawmakers who may be more attentive to arguments refuting the claims about medical risks and babies’ suffering.

A new study, published recently by Institute for Jewish Policy Research, in London, found that discussions about imposing bans on Jewish slaughter and circumcision were most noticeable in Sweden, where 85% of respondents in a survey said they had personally heard non-Jews suggest imposing these bans in the past year.

“This battle is being led by people who truly believe they are the heroes of liberalism and defenders of children’s rights,” he said.

It’s very hard to win this public debate,” Melchior said. ... That is why the local community is focusing on lobbying lawmakers ....

Iceland's PM meets with Angela Merkel

We urge you to consider the significant media attention, in the U.S,
and intemationally, paid to ADL reports on extremism. In the past six
months alone, our research and experts have been featured on CNN and other
cable TV channels, NBC and other broadcast TV, on 60 Minuíes, the most
watched TV news magazine in America, and in leading newspapers,
including The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Given that 28% of Iceland’s tourists came from North America in 2016,
Iceland’s standing in the U.S. should be o f great concern from an economic
perspective, We are confident that the vast majority o f American tourists will
avoid a country whose reputation is associated with Nazism, even if that
association is not justified.
Individually, any o f these three arguments should convince you to oppose a
ban on male circumcision, Collectively, they should compel you to make the
right decision and oppose the proposed ban.

Íris Björg Þorvaldsdóttir, an Icelandic nurse who recently founded an organisation called Intact Iceland, which opposes circumcision without medical reasons, also commented on ADL’s remarks. “The question is whether Icelanders will cave in front of such threats,” she said. “Are the rights of a child negotiable as if we were talking about a business agreement? Or are they individuals with certain human rights, as the Convention on the Rights of the Child states?”

This Icelandic bill is about protecting those who cannot speak up for themselves. In this debate it is the rights of both boys and girls, not the religious rights of adults or other human rights, that need to be upheld.