Two midwives want to forbid male circumcision with medical reasons. The two, Eli Aaby and Ann Kristin von Ubisch, work at Akershus university hospital and asked Health Minister Silvia Brustad to forbid the procedure in Norway.
The two wrote the health minister last year that they think the practice doesn't offer anything or can be explained ethically. But more than a year later, the health ministry is still dealing with the related questions and have no time set for a decision.
The two maintain they're only taking care of the boys' health. They say they are asked to help with circumcising of newborn boys. In their work they set complications such as infections, hemorrhaging, and need for re-operations. They therefore think there is an ethical dilemma in operating on healthy boys and excising healthy tissue, without the patient being able to offer their consent.
This goes along with the Norwegian Council for Medical Ethics decision on the topic from 2001.
Aaby and von Ubisch equate between male and female circumicion, saying the same cultural, religious and social arguments are used for the circumcision of small kids. They say the law against female circumcision is discriminatory since it doesn't include boys.
In Feb. 2005 the hospital decided to stop getting circumcision services from private clinics. Last year 100 boys under three months were circumcised at the Ringvold Clinic as well as 17 boys between 3-6 months.
In Sweden the law from 2001 requires anesthetic and qualified personnel, an attempt to stop amateur operations.
Irma Iversen, Ombudsman for patients in Akershus, says in an interview in March that Muslim boys are disabled for life in circumcisions in private homes. Since 2004 the operation is covered, but parents can decide to pay for it on their own.
The world health organization said in March that they support male circumcision in order to prevent HIV in countries with an HIV epidemic.
Source: Klassekampen (Norwegian)
