There was an advertisement in The Border Watch recently for a doctor who performs circumcisions.
Surprised by this, a reporter spoke to him and it turns out he gets lots of enquiries from country people since the South Australian Government banned circumcisions in public hospitals.
I wasn’t aware of the ban, having lived in Western Australia until May last year and Victoria before that.
Apparently the government considers circumcision “cosmetic” surgery and wanted to save beds.
I don’t recall Jim needing a bed when I took him into the Myrtleford Hospital five years ago. It was all over in 20 minutes.
Anyhow, South Australian parents wanting it done have to go to a private hospital.
There were 64 circumcisions done at the Mount Gambier Private Hospital last year (which is attached to the public hospital) but I guess many South East people travelled to Adelaide.
Most country areas don’t have private hospitals, so in that respect they are disadvantaged.
I won’t enter the circumcision debate here. It tends to flame passions, as I learnt after putting the story online with the headline: “Circumcision cuts hurt country people”.
The headline rated a mentioned on the Wall Street Journal’s “best of the web“.
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