Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Who Says There's No Discrimination In Australia?

I was talking to the father of one boy at taekwondo last night. He mentioned that Medicare was sometimes a subject that he could laugh at over the strange rules. It is supposed to be delivering health and payments programs to Australians or permanent residents. My friend mentioned that his boy's voice had broken and at this stage, back in his Indonesian homeland, boys were normally circumcised. It is a cultural practice.

He took his son to the doctor's clinic and discovered that Medicare would not cover the procedure as he wasn't a Jew or a Muslim. My friend is a Catholic. Strange or what? Australia stands proudly behind not discriminating on the basis of race, religion, age or sex. I don't think that is true with the national health system, based on our discussion last night. Strikes me as ridiculous. Jews and Muslims have a belief that requires them to have their boys undergo circumcision. But, according to Medicare, if it isn't part of your religion you won't see any financial benefit for your costs incurred.

Looks and smells like discrimination to me.

1 comment:

Susan Ham said...

I think it is a barbaric practice. There are very few reasons for it to be carried out medically, too.