German Circumcision Act

In Germany, the so-called "Circumcision Act" usually means the new additional paragraph 1631d BGB which was adopted on December 12, 2012 by the German Bundestag. It legalizes the medically not indicated circumcision of underage boys for the time being under certain conditions.

Before adoption and continuing thereafter, intactivists fight against this "Circumcision Act" because from many legal experts' view, it violates the Grundgesetz (German Constitution) and other legal norms.

The Text of the Circumcision Act

The law was placed in the Civil Code in Book 4 (family law), in section 2 (relationship) and there placed in title 5 (custody).

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§ 1631d BGB Circumcision of the Male Child
(1) Custody also includes the right to consent to a medically unnecessary circumcision of a male child not able to understand or assess, if this is to be carried out according to the rules of medical science. This does not apply if the child's welfare is jeopardized by the circumcision, even when taking its purpose into account.
(2) In the first six months after the birth of the child, persons who are provided by a religious society for this purpose, may perform circumcisions as referred to in paragraph 1, when they have been specially trained and, without being a doctor, are comparable capable to carry out the circumcision.

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Remarkable

The draft of the Federal Ministery of Justice had been almost identically adopted as a bill from the Cabinet. Exactly one statement was changed in the legal text:

The draft stated in paragraph 1, clause 1

"[...] if this is carried out according to the rules of medical science."

The passed bill, however, is

"[...] if this is to be carried out according to the rules of medical science."

This reformulation removes the legal issue from the law to prove that operations are actually done in accordance with the rules of medical science. Now the law accepts if the doctor or clipper has stated their intention to want to perform circumcision according to the rules of medical science.