STOCKHOLM, Sweden, July 25 (UPI) -- Two out of three doctors surveyed in Sweden said they refuse to circumcise boys because they consider it assault without the child's consent, sources said.

The opposing doctors said they did not perform circumcisions unless the procedure was deemed medically necessary. Otherwise, they viewed the procedure as barbaric and akin to unnecessary female circumcision, said Gunnar Gothberg, chairman of the Swedish Pediatric Surgeons Association.


An estimated 3,000 male circumcisions are performed in Sweden each year, with about 2,000 of them performed by people who are not doctors and who do not have a medical license, The Local reported.

The Swedish Board of Health and Welfare has proposed regulating male circumcisions and requiring all municipalities to offer male circumcision for non-medical reasons.