Swedish doctors won't do circumcisions

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GOTHENBURG, Sweden, April 29 (UPI) -- Doctors in western Sweden say they refuse to perform circumcisions, as they say they must perform other medical procedures that have greater priority.

The medical profession in the Vastra Gotaland region is obligated to provide circumcisions for approximately 300 Jewish and Muslim patients each year, the Goteborgs-Posten reported Thursday.

"Now we have to go out and find someone who is willing to perform the operations. The doctors' sector council has said 'no' to these procedures. We respect the doctors' position," said the head of the region's health care committee, Lars-Goran Moberg.

"We have deprioritized (circumcision) to help sick children, such as (by providing) surgery on tight foreskins for medical reasons. And obviously we cannot carry out these operations without sacrificing something else," pediatric surgeon John Westfelt said.