Reykjavík Grapevine - 16.03.2018, Síða 14

Not So
Cut-And-Dry

Controversy continues to reign in the
debate around male infant circumcision

Words: Hannah Jane Cohen Image: Giovanni Bellini
The recently proposed ban on male
child circumcision has continued
to spark controversy both domes-
tically and internationally. The
legislation currently has backing
from most major political parties
within the country, including the
Progressive Party and the Left-
Greens, who are in the ruling
coalition, as well as the Pirate
Party, and the People’s Party. If
the bill goes through, Iceland will
be the first European country to
ban male child circumcision.
But while political parties
have all spoken out, how strong
is support in the
g e n e r a l p o p u -
l a c e? T h e b e s t
guess comes from
a March 1st poll
done by Market &
Media Research,
which revealed a
sharp divide in the
population. Only
50% of Iceland-
ers support the
circumcision ban,
w h i l e 3 7 % a r e
opposed, and 13%
having no opinion
either way. For further analysis,
about 57% of those who supported
the proposed ban were men, and
the highest levels of support came
from the Pirate Party, the Left-
Greens, and the Progressives.
Religious leaders
respond
Icelanders might be on the fence
about the legislation, but religious
leaders are unanimously opposed.
Davíð Tencer, the Catholic Bishop
of Iceland, recently came out with
this statement: “To us, it looks like
this can be an opportunity for those
who are interested in this matter
to misuse the subject of circum-
cision in an attempt to persecute
individuals for their religion.”
Davíð’s views echo those of Agnes
M. Sigurðardóttir, the Bishop of
Iceland, who condemned the ban
early on. “The danger that arises,
if this bill becomes law, is that
Judaism and Islam will become
criminalised religions,” she said.
Mansoor Ahmad Malik, Imam
a n d N a t i o n a l
P r e s i d e n t o f
the A hmadiyya
Muslim Commu-
nity in Iceland,
urged people to
think about the
unenforceability
of such legislation.
Muslims tradi-
tionally circum-
cise their boys.
“Imposing a ban
on such a religious
injunction will put
m a n y Mu s l i m s
and adherents of other faiths, who
practice circumcision, in great
distress,” he said. “This may lead
to people carrying out such proce-
dures by themselves in an inap-
propriate environment, perhaps
causing harm to the child. There-
fore, I would urge not to impose a
ban on such a religious injunction,
but to find ways to make the proce-
dure safer and more comfortable.”
The other religious group
who practises male circumcision
are the Jews, and while Iceland
currently has no Jewish religious
leader in residence, Rabbi Avi Feld-
man will soon be moving to the
country to open a Chabad Centre.
“Circumcision is a core Jewish
practice that serves as the bedrock
of Jewish life. It was the first
command that G-d gave to Abra-
ham, the first Jewish man, and it
has been practised by our people
for nearly four millennia,” he wrote
in a statement to the Grapevine.
“To those that value religious free-
dom, the proposed ban is naturally
a matter of great concern. We are
hopeful that the religious needs
and rights for people of all faiths
will be preserved and respected.”
But while local and interna-
tional religious leaders have all
firmly condemned the ban, 400
Icelandic doctors have spoken
out in support of it. In addition,
Icelandic nurses and midwives
sent a list with 1,325 signa-
tures to Parliament in support.
The number 117
How dangerous is male circumci-
sion though? The research contin-
ually being referenced by Icelandic
politicians in support of the ban
is that 117 circumcision-related
deaths occur yearly in America.
This number comes from a report
done by Dan Bollinger, a known
opponent of circumcision, based
on his review of infant mortal-
ity statistics. However, in 2012,
The New York Times dove into
Dan’s report and found that the
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) does not track
deaths from infant circumcisions
because they are exceedingly rare
so it’s unclear where Bollinger
got his information from. In the
CDC’s last mortality report, which
occurred in 2010, there were no
circumcision-related deaths.
The ban, though, continues to
be a matter of distress and concern
for both sides. It’s an issue of bodily
autonomy, which one cannot
argue with, but will undoubt-
edly affect certain small religious
groups in the country, and particu-
larly those who have been histori-
cally discriminated against.
14 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 04 — 2018
If the bill
goes through,
Iceland will
be the first
European
country to ban
male child
circumcision.
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Circumcision of Christ by Bellini