US military doctors in Germany will continue circumcision

JTA — US military doctors stationed in Germany will continue to perform circumcisions despite a ruling that has roiled the country’s medical and political establishments.

Stars and Stripes on Monday quoted US officials as saying that a decision by a Cologne court banning circumcision for non-medical reasons applies only in that jurisdiction, where there are no US military facilities.

Should a court in a region where the US military has facilities ban the practice, the policy will be reviewed, the officials told the newspaper.

A number of German and Swiss doctors have stopped the practice until the legal implications of the Cologne court’s ruling are fully understood.

Jewish and Muslim groups have protested the rulings, and German lawmakers have taken legislative steps toward protecting the practice.