Austrians Allow Circumcisions To Continue
An Austrian province ruled that doctors may continue to perform infant circumcisions for religious reasons without risking criminal charges.
Following a temporary suspension of infant circumcisions in hospitals, the Vorarlberg province’s Justice Ministry made the ruling on Monday, Reuters reported.
“We only wanted to get legal certainty for doctors so they can be clear whether they face legal consequences if they perform circumcisions for religious reasons,” said a spokesman for Vorarlberg Gov. Markus Wallner.
Last week, Wallner ordered doctors to stop performing infant circumcision for religious reasons until the legal status of the procedure was clarified after a district court in Cologne, Germany, banned the procedure on infants, saying it caused grievous bodily harm.
On Friday, an interfaith coalition of clergy issued a statement seeking clarification on the issue.
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
— Alyssa Katz, editor-in-chief
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
