Just published. An extract:
Ahead of the parliament discussion about the bill, Iceland’s Bishop Agnes M. Sigurðardóttir criticized the proposal for criminalizing religious practices. “On the one hand, there’s an irreversible intervention in a child’s body, but on the other hand, it’s the right of the child to grow up in the religious and cultural practices of his parents, practices that mold the identity of every person,” she explained.
She believes it’s the “right” of boys (she uses the word “child” but later refers to “his” parents) to have their genitals mutilated on religious or cultural grounds. Would she deny female minors be denied this “right”? Of course:
The bill equates male circumcision to female genital mutilation, which has been outlawed in Iceland since 2005. Sigurðardóttir stressed, however, that male circumcision is different from the banned practice for females and that the parliament should “provide room to discuss this sensitive matter.”
