COPENHAGEN: Medical Association "fundamentally opposed" to infant circumcision

Lægeforeningen
21. januar 2014

Omskæring skal altid foregå på lægelige behandlingssteder

Det er helt uacceptabelt at tillade omskæring på drengebørn under to måneder andre steder end på et lægeligt behandlingssted, mener Lægeforeningen, som opfordrer Sundhedsstyrelsen til at ændre reglerne.

Sundhedsstyrelsen anbefaler i et udkast til revideret vejledning om omskæring, at drenge, der er ældre end to måneder får indgrebet foretaget på et lægeligt behandlingssted. Denne regel bør naturligvis også gælde for de allermindste børn, som gennemgår dette operative indgreb.

”Drenge, der er yngre end to måneder, har naturligvis også krav på den større sikkerhed, som det giver, at indgrebet foretages på et lægeligt behandlingssted. Omskæring kan som alle andre indgreb medføre komplikationer, og derfor er det vigtigt, at operationen foregår i rammer, der beskytter barnet bedst muligt – uanset alder. Det bør Sundhedsstyrelsen sikre i den nye vejledning,” siger Mads Koch Hansen, formand for Lægeforeningen.

Omskæring bør være et personligt valg
Han understreger, at Lægeforeningen er grundlæggende imod omskæring af drenge, hvis ikke der er en lægelig grund som f. eks. forhudsforsnævring til, at indgrebet foretages.

”Det er meget indgribende, at voksne kan bestemme, at nyfødte skal gennemgå et operativt indgreb, som ikke er lægeligt begrundet, og hvis effekt er livsvarig. Når en dreng når myndighedsalderen, kan han selv tage stilling, men indtil da må hensynet til individets ret til selvbestemmelse veje tungest,” siger Mads Koch Hansen.

Danish Medical Association (Microsoft translation)
21 January, 2014

Circumcision should always be performed in medical treatment facilities

It is totally unacceptable to allow circumcision of male infants less than two months at locations other than a medical treatment facility, according to the Medical Association, calling on the Board of Health to change the rules.

[The Board] recommends [in] draft revised guidelines on circumcision [of] boys who are older than two months [that they] have surgery performed at a medical treatment facility. This rule should of course also apply to the youngest children who undergo these surgical interventions.

"Boys who are younger than two months are, of course, entitled to the greater security it provides [when] the operation is performed at a medical treatment facility. Circumcision like any other interventions lead to complications, and therefore it is important that the operation takes place in a framework that protects the child as [much as] possible - regardless of age. The Board of Health should ensure [this] in the new guide," says Mads Koch Hansen, president of the Association.

Circumcision should be a personal choice
He stresses that the Medical Association is fundamentally opposed to male circumcision unless there is a medical reason, such as phimosis, for carrying out the operation. [And phimosis can not be diagnosed in early childhood.]

"It's very intrusive that adults may decide that the newborn is to undergo a surgical procedure that is not medically justified and [whose] power is lifelong. When a boy [reaches] the age of majority, he may even decide, but until then the requirements of the individual's right to self-determination prevail," says Mads Koch Hansen.