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.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
