Swedish doctors urge ban on circumcision

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STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- Swedish doctors say the circumcision of young boys for religious reasons should be banned in Sweden.

The Swedish Pediatric Society, or BLF, has now concluded the procedure should be banned because the children cannot decide for themselves. Staffan Janson, chairman of the BLF committee for ethical issues and children's rights, told Swedish newspaper Goteborgs-Posten circumcision was an attack on a young boy's integrity.

"It's a complicated and difficult question, but even so we've decided that this is a procedure to be done away with," he said. "It's a mutilation of a child unable to decide for himself."

Swedish news agency TT reported circumcision has long been a controversial matter in Sweden.

"Parents decide things for their children all the time," said Omar Mustafa, head of the Islamic Association in Sweden. "Allowing parents to decide over this matter isn't stranger than allowing them to decide whether their child is to be vaccinated or not."