Policy

Circumcision Will Remain Legal in Germany

Possible ban fueled international controversy

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The German parliament voted Wednesday to keep male circumcision legal, ending an international controversy that started when a Cologne court ruled the practice constitutes "bodily harm."

The new law, proposed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, permits traditional Jewish circumcision, in which Jews trained in circumcision (mohels) circumcise male babies on the eighth day after birth, in accordance with the Torah.