Danes Want a Ban on Male Circumcision

Almost three-quarters of Danish people support some form of ban on male circumcision, a survey has found.

The survey, by a national Danish newspaper, gauged the opinion of the Danish public ahead of a debate in the country's parliament on circumcision rights next week, and on the back of extensive media coverage in Denmark debating the topic.

In the survey of 1,000 Danes, commissioned by the Danish newspaper Metroxpress, 74% of people said that they felt there should be either a full or partial ban on male circumcision.

Only 10% of people said they supported the right for parents to choose whether their sons are circumcised.

Last year the Danish health and medicines authority concluded after a review that there was not enough evidence for the health benefits of circumcision to formally recommend it. But it also found there was not enough of a health risk from circumcision to justify a ban.

Denmark's parliament will hold a hearing on Wednesday to discuss circumcision. Both the left-wing Red-Green alliance (Ehedslisten) and the libertarian party Liberal Alliance both are said to be pushing for a ban.

Danish health records suggest that somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 circumcision are performed in Denmark each year. Jewish and Muslim boys make up the majority of patients.

Jair Melchoir, from the Danish Jewish faith group Mosaisk Trossamfund, told Metroxpress: "The problem is that there are so many assertions in the debate on circumcising boys. If it was so dangerous, the Jewish community would have been the first to stop it. But it's not [dangerous]."