From January 1st, Danish doctors must register all circumcisions of boys, whether they are performed at home or at a medical clinic.
The Danish health ministry has tightened the registration requirement, and doctors who don’t report circumcisions to the Central –National Patient Registry (Sentrale Landspatientregisteret), will be subject to fines.
Dan Rosenberg Asmussen, the Chairman of The Jewish Community in Denmark, said they have no problems with the registration requirements or with the imposition of fines as sanctions for non-registration.
‘It is positive if it means the illegal circumcision of boys that we hear about through the media, can be avoided’, wrote Asmussen in an email to the newspaper, Kristeligt Dagblad.
An amount of ‘ritual circumcision’ of boys is performed today, outside of public hospitals in Denmark (either at home or in private clinics). By legal statute, the circumcision must be done by a doctor, or with a physician present. Previously, it was only circumcisions performed in clinics that had to be reported.
‘The aim of the new rules is to get a better overview of how widespread the practice is’, said Health Minister, Ellen Trane Nørby.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
