U.S. Military Doctors Continue Circumcisions
U.S. military doctors stationed in Germany will continue to perform circumcisions despite a ruling that has roiled the country’s medical and political establishments.
Stars and Stripes on Monday quoted U.S. officials as saying that a decision by a Cologne court banning circumcision for non-medical reasons applies only in that jurisdiction, where there are no U.S. military facilities.
Should a court in a region where the U.S. military has facilities ban the practice, the policy will be reviewed, the officials told the newspaper.
A number of German and Swiss doctors have stopped the practice until the legal implications of the Cologne court’s ruling are fully understood.
Jewish and Muslim groups have protested the rulings, and German lawmakers have taken legislative steps toward protecting the practice.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
