(Local) The leader of Sweden’s Centre Party has said she “regrets” a party vote to work for a ban on non-medical circumcision, after Jewish and Muslim groups criticized the decision.
What happened?
Sweden’s Centre Party voted in favour of banning circumcision (omskärelse) of boys in the absence of a medical reason, during the party’s annual meeting in Karlstad at the weekend.
The main purpose of the meeting was to vote on the party’s official stance in several social issues, including whether to remove restrictions on blood donations from gay and bisexual men (this proposal was rejected) and whether to introduce legal recognition of a third gender (this proposal was accepted).
The decision on circumcision, taken by party commissioners, went against the official party line, and Centre Party leader Annie Lööf has said she “regrets” the outcome.
