German Court: Child‘s ’Fundamental Right‘ to ’Bodily Integrity‘ Outweighs Parents’ Right to Circumcise
- Posted on June 27, 2012 at 3:39pm by
Liz Klimas
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Dieter Graumann, president of Germany's Central Council of Jews, called the ruling "insensitive" with the potential to attack religious freedom. (Photo: AP/Thomas Lohnes/dapd)
BERLIN (The Blaze/AP) — German court ruled Tuesday that circumcising young boys on religious grounds amounts to bodily harm even if parents consent to the procedure.
Cologne state court said the “fundamental right of the child to bodily integrity outweighed the fundamental rights of the parents,” the Daily Telegraph reported.
(Related: Calf. gov. bans local municipalities from banning circumcision)
The case involved a doctor accused of carrying out a circumcision on a 4-year-old that led to medical complications. The doctor was acquitted, however, and prosecutors said they won’t appeal.
“The religious freedom of the parents and their right to educate their child would not be unacceptably compromised, if they were obliged to wait until the child could himself decide to be circumcised,” the court also said. ”The body of the child is irreparably and permanently changed by a circumcision. This change contravenes the interests of the child to decide later on his religious beliefs.”
The president of Germany’s Central Council of Jews, Dieter Graumann, called the ruling “unprecedented and insensitive,” urging the country’s parliament to clarify the legal situation “to protect religious freedom against attacks.”
Graumann said the circumcision of newborn Jews has been practiced for thousands of years and “every country in the world respects this religious right.”
Muslims also circumcise young boys, while many parents request it on health grounds.
Ali Demir with the Islamic Religious Community told The Local that the decision is “discriminatory and counters efforts to promote integration”:
“This is a harmless procedure that has thousands of years of tradition and a high symbolic value,” Demir said in a statement.
He also argued that there were advantages of circumcision in reducing the transfer of diseases. He said forbidding the practice would do nothing to stop it.
“We’ll end up with circumcision tourism in neighbouring countries,” he said.
The state court‘s ruling creates a tricky legal situation for doctors who perform the procedure on parents’ orders.
Unlike female circumcision, there is no law prohibiting it and the ruling isn’t binding for other courts. However, it sets a precedent that would be taken into account by other German courts when ruling on similar cases
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Comments (67)
frogg
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 9:01pmHitler! Here we come again!!!
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 8:31pmIn Germany… the STATE… OWNS… the PEOPLE!
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on June 28, 2012 at 5:09amAnd… if each person has the exclusive Right to their own Body… then the State cannot interfer in this Right, either. An Ironic Oxymoron!
Report Post »nueces
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 8:15pmYou just can’t keep Nazis down in the Fatherland. It’s in their DNA.
Report Post »Conservative Hippy
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 7:11pmAdd your comments
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 8:34pmThe PENIS… is NAZI… or JEW!
Report Post »Quencher
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 5:31pmThe comparisons in most of these comments are worse than “apples to oranges”. The real comparison actually is more along the lines of “Cutting off the foreskin is more like cutting off the eyelids”. In both cases it is an irreversible condition for life. In both cases it is removing the protective covering of a very sensitive, useful and delicate organ. civilization will be achieved when equal treatment of males and females will be the rule. Already most civilizations respect females. Hopefully it will extend to males, especially very young males, unable to comment or complain. The medical profession had encouraged the procedure to male babies that are not part of any religious sect. But now the more enlightened doctors are yielding to the parents preferences, thank goodness! And thanks to my parents for keeping me intact all my years! For true reports ask discerning, active females for their opinions!!
Report Post »tzion
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 5:49pmThe foreskin is far more similar to the appendix. Both contribute no positive benefit, the person notices no major change as a result of the procedure, and act as a potential location where disease and infections can fester. The eye is sensitive to extreme light and foreign objects that the eyelid keeps outs. What does the foreskin protect from?
Report Post »SacredHonor1776
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 6:47pmSince an unborn does not have a fundamental right to ‘bodily integrity’. Therefore if someone wants to remove the foreskin, it must be done before the child leaves the womb. “Aborting” the unborn foreskin from the womb is within your legal rights! It is a fundamental woman’s right. Like abortion!
Report Post »Nick84
Posted on June 28, 2012 at 1:29amtzion-
Not sure if troll… There is evidence to suggest that the appendix has a role in the immune system. There are also benefits of having an intact foreskin. I suggest you look into both. Furthermore, I doubt you could find a doctor in the United States that would remove your appendix without it being necessary. Why should the foreskin be any different?
Report Post »eric6161
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 5:30pmGreat… about time they realized that a child has the right to all their arms, lets, and head. Bodily integrity is cool… now it’s time to put the abortionists in prison for removing the arms, legs, head, etc of the young kids.
Report Post »muddpuddle
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 5:49pmYou know they won’t see it that way….. It would be inconvenient…
Report Post »SacredHonor1776
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 6:39pmNow, now, you know very well that an unborn does not have a fundamental right to ‘bodily integrity’. Therefore if you must remove the foreskin, it must be done before the child leaves the womb. “Aborting” the unborn foreskin from the womb is within your legal rights! It is a fundamental woman’s right.
Report Post »NJBarFly
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 5:02pmI find it amazing that banning the genital mutilation of young children is a controversial topic on the Blaze. Seriously, regardless of your religious beliefs, leave children’s wieners alone.
Report Post »SacredHonor1776
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 5:08pmJewish people will fight back for their beliefs… They will continue to practice them no matter what society says they can or cannot do.
What do you suggest to do to stop them?
Report Post »NJBarFly
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 5:21pmUm, make it illegal? If your believe was to sacrifice babies, we would prosecute you, right? I don’t think making genital mutilation illegal should be controversial.
Report Post »tzion
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 5:34pmAnd how do you plan to make it illegal? Did you forget that religious freedom is protected? Or maybe that the parents have power of attorney in all medical procedures including amputation? How much taxpayer money are you going to spend to enforce what is essentially your own personal views on everyone else?
Report Post »SacredHonor1776
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 6:09pmYes, when you start persecuting them, they will fight back. They have long memories, and know what happened in the past when the government tried to mandate laws specific to their culture… What will you do if their whole society resists your attempts to dictate what they can and cannot do within their own society.
Report Post »Murkman
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 4:49pmAs for the whole religious freedom nonsense: You religious freedom ends where my wedding tackle begins.
Report Post »SacredHonor1776
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 5:06pmDon’t think it as any issue against your wedding tackle… Only the rights against jewish and muslim wedding tackle. You know they will continue to practice their beliefs, even if they are arrested and persecuted against doing it.
What will you suggest to do to stop them from practicing their beliefs? Death penalty?
Report Post »Murkman
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 5:18pmFirst off tons of Christian babies are subject to this practice. I should know cause I’m missing something too.
It’s a law now. Break it, go to jail, simple. This isn’t persecution of any kind. Parents are mutilating their babies for no good reason and it should stop.
Report Post »SacredHonor1776
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 6:13pmHave fun trying to lock away a whole society for breaking the rule! They’ll break the law anyways. The more you fight them, the more they will resist. They have long memories…
Report Post »SacredHonor1776
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 6:18pmhttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Jd1O25OZ6oM/TftpaTO047I/AAAAAAAACYE/AZPMphy-XWk/s1600/Monster+Mohel+text.jpg
This sort of thing just breeds anti-semitism…
Report Post »tzion
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 6:26pm@murkman
Report Post »Your attitude reminds me of a case I heard about in California. A law was passed that said if someone fails to pay child support within 30 days of being asked to pay, the government would force you to pay it until the child was 18. This provision would kick in EVEN IF YOU COULD PROVE THE CHILD WASN’T YOURS. The lawmakers‘ response to several individuals being falsely named as parents and paying for children that weren’t theirs: “The law is the law.”
SacredHonor1776
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 6:33pmBesides a law like this is easily bypassed… if in the womb there is no fundamental right to ‘bodily ingrety (as pro-choicers would have us believe), thus all the parents just need to, is have the circimcis happen before the child comes out of the womb.
Report Post »SacredHonor1776
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 6:35pm*bodily integrity
Report Post »Murkman
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 4:47pmI see no harm in letting baby boys grow up and make their own decision about what happens to their joy department.
Report Post »jungle J
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 4:33pmGermans want to be germans not a multicultural nightmare like england and America…there is no hate there..I sort of agree wth the circucision and body piercing a child…I see infants pierced in America as if the are a baby doll not a human….the sane understand.
Report Post »SquidVetOhio
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 4:39pmGermany, the land of no hate. Well, except that whole holocaust thing.
Report Post »THX-1138
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 4:32pmAh, good. Abortion is now illegal in Germany.
Idiots…
Report Post »yougottabekidding
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 4:25pmWhat is the Germans stand on abortion?
Report Post »Alex
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 4:21pmIt looks like an indirect, backend way of throwing the Jews out of Germany. I guess these Nazi grandchildren have finally figured out a more elegant way of achieving their “master race”.
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 4:21pmBellamia just hit the nail on the head folks, omce again Germany’s minds are sneaky BRILLIANT…. in its sly way… it’s all about making Germany UNdesirable for both muslims and Jews…
Report Post »paperpushermj
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 4:17pmAnyone know where this right of “bodily integrity” comes from? Sounds made up to give legal standing to me.
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 4:15pmwe thought Dr Mengele was dead and buried. now comes this thoroughly anti-religious motives crapola…. yeah, some Nazi must have resurrected the Aryan body purity nonsense again.
Report Post »Nick84
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 4:51pmYou are comparing a man who experimented on children by performing disgusting surgeries to a law protecting children from unnecessary surgeries. The irony on this site is amazing.
Report Post »SacredHonor1776
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 6:50pmHmm, and you just compared the Jews to Dr. Mengele?
Anti-semitism anyone? That’s kinda ironic!
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 4:05pmWell, the Germans have gotten over the holocaust a lot quicker than America has gotten over slavery. This country still gets in an uproar over tennis shoes with shackles on them 150 years after the Civil War. Germans are busy legislating against Jewish religious freedom 70 years after Hitler blew his brains out.
Report Post »DanMan2012
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 4:05pmNext they’ll make child baptism illegal, accusing Catholics of waterboarding babies!
Sorry for the sarcasm, but trying to make a point. This kind of thing is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
Somebody’s got an agenda and good and faithful people are not a part of the plan!
Report Post »paperpushermj
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 4:00pmWhy does this remind me of when the English banned the Pipes from being played in Scotland.
Report Post »RightThinking1
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 3:57pmBy logical extension the same thing is true of trimming their fingernails and hair, no? How about the child’s right to crooked teeth? Cavities? A swollen appendix? Tonsils? A gangrenous limb?
Report Post »Parents make decisions all of the time regarding the *future* welfare of their children, and that is as it should be. It is their job, not the state’s.
paperpushermj
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 4:12pmThis decision has nothing to do with the Child and everything to do with the arrogance of Secularism. They don’t see the value to this so called outdated act so to them it has no value so….. ban it.
Report Post »SLEAZYHIPPOs ILLEGITIMATE OFFSPRING
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 4:33pmNot only do they not see the value in it, they believe they no better than the parents and want to curtail in religous influence that they can. Did you catch the part about letting the child decide their religous prefernce when old enough. It is merely secularism encroaching once again on individual right and freedoms. However, apparently abortion on demand, hey forget the kids rights to bodily integrity….What a screwed up way of thinknig and reasoning.
Report Post »ROCKETSMOM
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 6:53pmCouldn’t agree more!!!!!!!!!!! that’s WHY God gave them PARENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »Pontiac
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 7:32pmWhy are my comments not posting!!!
Report Post »Pontiac
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 8:04pmThe Blaze wouldn’t post my comments. So I’ll post a link to them.
http://shortText.com/mcGePMr
Report Post »BellaMia7
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 3:55pmI can see how it would make Muslims consider not relocated to Germany where they can’t practice female genital mutilation – or is that already “outlawed” in Germany. (You know they do it law or no law.)
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 4:18pmAHHHH, GREAT POINT…you really scored AAA on this one…. yes yes bigger picture is= Germany would really be absolute Undesirable a place for muslims [breedingest population on the planet] and the Jews then.. the Nazis who are having to bail everyone else out in Europe WOULD have more of their own resources left for their own native Germans… what a perfect non-concentration-camp solution to population control.
Report Post »Pray for USA
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 4:58pmNothing stops their migration. They plan to put Sharia in place everywhere and they can do what they want.
Report Post »cassandra
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 3:50pmNext it will be taking the right of baptism away from the parent YOU WATCH this is just plain evil taking hold in Europe
Report Post »Mike Westfall No Hiding
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 4:01pmEvil has been in place in Europe a long time. Inquisition, Dark Ages, WWI, WWII / Hitler, Napolean, Stalin, etc. This is just a repeat of history
Report Post »SacredHonor1776
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 3:44pm“amounts to bodily harm even if parents consent to the procedure.”
Ironically though if the child is still in the womb, chopping it up into little bits and suck it up with a vacuum doesn‘t count as ’bodily harm to a child’…
Report Post »cassandra
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 3:47pmSACRED you are talking about the liberal mindset , this has nothing to do with childrens rights it THEIR right to control you that is important
Report Post »HorseCrazy
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 3:54pmyou read my mind the liberal morals of this world disgust me
Report Post »SacredHonor1776
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 4:00pmeasily bypassed though… if in the womb there is no fundamental right against bodily harm (as pro-choicers would have us believe), then parents just need to have the circimcis happen before the child comes out of the womb.
Report Post »booger71
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 4:00pmSeems like the Nazi’s are taking power again
Report Post »hi
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 3:42pmWhat about a child’s right to not be aborted?
Report Post »HorseCrazy
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 3:55pmremember liberal logic it is a fetus not a child right? isn’t that the garbage we are supposed to swallow. God help us
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on June 27, 2012 at 3:40pmSo, where is GOD’s mandate on this, hmmmm?
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