Editing Circumcision and law (section)

=== Belgium ===
The Belgian Advisory Committee on Bioethics finds that circumcision is a radical operation, and that physical integrity of the child takes precedence over parents' belief systems.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ethics committee rules against infant circumcision {{!}} Flanders Today |url=http://www.flanderstoday.eu/current-affairs/ethics-committee-rules-against-infant-circumcision |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819173936/http://www.flanderstoday.eu/current-affairs/ethics-committee-rules-against-infant-circumcision |archive-date=19 August 2019 |access-date=2019-10-16 |website=flanderstoday.eu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-11-23 |title=Opinion no. 70 - ethical aspects of nonmedical circumcision |url=https://www.health.belgium.be/en/opinion-no-70-ethical-aspects-nonmedical-circumcision |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016133725/https://www.health.belgium.be/en/opinion-no-70-ethical-aspects-nonmedical-circumcision |archive-date=16 October 2019 |access-date=2019-10-16 |website=FPS Public Health |language=en}}</ref>{{clarify|reason=Any effects of this decision?|date=December 2021}}

In 2012, ''[[Le Soir]]'' reported a 21% increase in the amount of circumcisions in [[Belgium]] from 2006 and 2011. In the previous 25 years, one in three Belgian-born boys had allegedly been circumcised. A questionnaire to hospitals in [[Wallonia]] and [[Brussels]] showed that about 80 to 90% of the procedures had religious or cultural motives. The Ministry of Health stressed the importance of safe circumstances, physicians warned that "no surgical procedure is without risk" and that circumcision was "not a necessary procedure".<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 August 2012 |title=Rituele besnijdenis in opmars in België |work=Het Nieuwsblad |url=https://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20120810_003 |url-status=live |access-date=29 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629074317/https://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20120810_003 |archive-date=29 June 2018}}</ref>

In 2017, it was estimated that about 15% of Belgian men were circumcised. The [[Incidence (epidemiology)|incidence]] has been gradually rising: in 2002, about 17,800 boys or men underwent circumcision, which increased to almost 26,200 in 2016. The expenses of undergoing circumcision are covered by the National Institute for Disease and Disability Insurance (RIZIV/INAMI), costing about 2.7 million euros in 2016. After inquiries were submitted to the Belgian Bioethics Advisory Committee in early 2014, an ethics commission was set up to review the morality of covering the costs of medically unnecessary surgery through taxpayer money, especially considering that many taxpayers regard the practice as immoral. By July 2017, the commission reportedly reached consensus on discontinuing the financial coverage of non-medical circumcision, but was still debating whether to advise the government to institute a total ban of the practice.<ref name="Vankersschaever">{{Cite news |last=Sarah Vankersschaever |date=1 July 2017 |title=Ethisch comité stelt terugbetaling rituele besnijdenis in vraag |language=nl |work=De Standaard |url=http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20170630_02951236 |url-status=live |access-date=25 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626030157/http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20170630_02951236 |archive-date=26 June 2018}}</ref> The commission's final (non-binding) recommendation, presented on 19 September 2017, was to cease public funding for non-medical circumcision, and to not circumcise anyone underage until they can consent or reject the procedure after being properly informed. This was in line with the 1990 [[Convention on the Rights of the Child]], and mirrors the 2013 non-binding [[Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe]]'s resolution against underage non-therapeutic circumcision.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sarah Vankersschaever |date=20 September 2017 |title=Lichaam belangrijker dan geloof: ritueel besnijden is aantasting fysieke integriteit |language=nl |work=De Standaard |url=http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20170919_03082876 |url-status=live |access-date=28 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628072526/http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20170919_03082876 |archive-date=28 June 2018}}</ref> However, Health Minister [[Maggie De Block]] rejected the commission's advice, arguing the RIZIV "cannot know whether there is a medical motive or not" when parents request a circumcision, and when they are denied a professional procedure, chances are parents will have a non-expert perform it, leading to worse results for the children. The Health Minister's response was received with mixed reactions.<ref name="Block">{{Cite news |last=Eveline Vergauwen |date=21 September 2017 |title=De Block blijft besnijdenis terugbetalen |language=nl |work=De Standaard |url=http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20170920_03084394 |url-status=live |access-date=28 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112104636/https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20170920_03084394 |archive-date=12 November 2019}}</ref>