THEIST_WATCH
  Msg  : 167                                        Written : 10/31/94 11:23pm
  From : ROBIN MURRAY-O'HAIR                        Status  : RcA             
  To   : ALL                                                                  
  Subj : EGYPT WILL NOT BAN FEMALE CIRCUMCISION                               

                   EGYPT WILL NOT BAN FEMALE CIRCUMCISION

    During the recent U.N. conference on population control in Cairo,
there was quite an uproar over the practice of female circumcision in
Egypt. But according to the newspaper _Al-Akhbar_ there will be no move
to ban the practice.

    On Wednesday, October 19, Egyptian Health Minister Ali Abdel-Fattah
said that he would not work for a law banning the custom totally. He is,
however, "considering" requiring that the procedure be done in
hospitals. Currently, any one can perform the procedure, and it is most
often done by midwives and barbers. Government hospitals and clinics are
not allowed to do it.

    Up to 90 percent of the females in Egypt are circumcised.



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