Minor protest in front of Washington Convention Center in connection with the American Association of Pediatricians annual meeting. Photo: dbking.

Following a German court’s recent decision that the physical integrity of a child is more important than parents’ religious beliefs, Berlin’s Jewish Hospital suspended circumcisions.

“We are suspending circumcisions until the legal position is clear,” Jewish Hospital Dr. Kristof Graf told AFP.

The court’s ruling, which came under fire in the Jewish community, was made after the circumcision of a 4-year-old Muslim boy caused the child heavy bleeding. Prosecutors had charged the doctor who performed the procedure with grievous bodily harm. The doctor was eventually acquitted, but a regional court ruled that circumcision “contravenes the interests of the child to decide later on his religious beliefs.” Though this ruling does not explicitly prohibit male circumcision in Germany, it sets a new legal standard for similar cases on the issue.

About 300 circumcisions, including 100 religious ones, were performed at the Jewish Hospital last year, according to Israel National News.