Egypt Bans Female Circumcisions

The government has forbidden state hospitals to perform female circumcisions, just months after authorizing them to do so in an attempt to curb botched operations by clumsy amateurs.

State hospitals were quietly told two months ago to stop performing the procedure, but the decision was never publicly announced. A Ministry of Health official who confirmed the ban attributed the reversal to pressure from women’s and human rights groups and fear of U.S. aid sanctions.

Female circumcision, widespread in Egypt and other parts of Africa, is condemned by critics as genital mutilation. The procedure ranges from clipping the tip of a young girl’s clitoris to cutting away even the outer sex organs.