Merkel Defends Circumsion as Religious Freedom

Chancellor Angela Merkel defended Jewish and Muslim religious rights on Friday, after a court in Cologne ruled that circumcision was an act of bodily harm on a child.

The ruling came after a four year old suffered medical complications from being circumcised.

It went further to say that children's right to be kept from physical harm over ruled their parents religious beliefs.

After the ruling, Germany's Medical Association immediately ordered doctors to not perform any circumcisions.

Jewish and Muslim communities joined forces to protest the ruling, calling it an "affront to our basic religious and human rights".

Opinion in Germany, over the issue is mixed, but Merkel very strongly stated that circumcision was a right of religious freedom, and therefore should be protected as such.