In a letter to the Simon Wiesenthal Center sent last week, Norwegian Foreign Minister Børge Brende gave his assurances that circumcision will not be banned in Norway, reports the Jerusalem Post.
“The Norwegian government recognizes the importance of ritual male circumcision for the Jewish community in Norway… [and] it will not propose a ban on ritual circumcision,” the letter stated.
This is in response to increasing pressure to the contrary, particular after renewed calls from Norwegian Children’s Ombudswoman Anne Lindboe to ban such procedures without consent of the boy.
New legislation was to be introduced before April 20, following the campaign by the Ombudswomen.
“With good information about risk, pain and lack of health benefits of the intervention, I think parents from minorities would voluntarily abstain from circumcising children,” she told the Aftenposten newspaper.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center commended the statement, expressing that it sent “a clear message to Dr. Anne Lindboe, Norway’s children’s ombudswoman and other Norwegian figures who continue to publicly express their opposition to brit mila.”
The Norwegian Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe last month passed a resolution calling male ritual circumcision a “violation of the physical integrity of children,” which prompted a fierce reaction from Jews worldwide.