A group of rabbis is clashing with New York City health officials over the safety of an ancient circumcision ritual. Three rabbis and three Jewish groups asked a federal court Thursday to block enforcement of a new regulation requiring written parental consent for a rite called "metzitzah b'peh," in Hebrew, which city health experts said can spread sexually transmitted diseases and has killed children.
During the ritual, the person performing the circumcision attempts to cleanse the wound by sucking blood from the cut and spitting it aside. The saliva contact puts the infant at increased risk of getting herpes simplex, a virus that is carried harmlessly by a large majority of adults but that can be deadly in newborns. In September, New York City's Board of Health voted 9-0<http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nyc-requires-consent-form-for-controversial-ultra-orthodox-circumcision-rite>to require that anyone performing the ritual obtain written consent from a parent or guardian. The parents would have to sign a form acknowledging that the city Health Department advises against the practice because of risks of herpes and other infections. New York City's Health Department said it has documented 11 cases of the infection since 2000 among children believed to have undergone the ritual. Ten required hospitalization. Two developed brain damage. Two died. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)<http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-11-infants-contracted-herpes-due-to-controversial-jewish-circumcision-practice>also released a report on the 11 cases this June. The agency determined at the time that 20,493 babies boys born in New York City could have potentially had direct oral suction during the almost six-year period they monitored statistics from April 2006-December 2011. The risk of contracting herpes following Jewish ritual circumcision with confirmed or likely direct orogenital suction was determined to be 24.4 per 100,000 cases, which was 3.4 times higher than the risk for babies who did not have direct orogential suction. The deaths prompted some doctors to call for the practice to be banned entirely, but the city's Board of Health adopted a compromise approach instead last month. Under the new rule, mohelim -- religious figures who perform the circumcision -- would also be required inform parents that the city believed the procedure was dangerous and have them sign a consent form. No one would collect the forms, and the mohelim would be required to keep them for a year before destroying them. In their lawsuit filed Thursday, rabbis Samuel Blum, Ahron Leiman and Shloime Eichenstein said the city had exaggerated the potential for harm and infringed on their religious freedom. If the regulation were to take effect, rabbis "will be forced to serve as the Department's mouthpiece for dispensing opinion and 'advice' that directly undermines the required religious ritual that these mohelim regularly perform, in violation of their rights to freedom of speech and freedom of religious exercise," the suit said. The lawsuit, joined by the Central Rabbinical Congress of the USA and Canada, Agudath Israel of America and the International Bris Association, also argued that the city's safety studies were flawed and that the procedure, when performed properly, was "very safe." It said compelling the rabbis to warn against the procedure was unconstitutional. In a statement responding to the suit, the city's health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Farley, called the regulation "lawful, appropriate and necessary." "The city's highest obligation is to protect its children; therefore, it is important that parents know the risks associated with the practice," he said. Concerns about the safety of metzitzah b'peh go back to at least the mid-19th century, when most Jews abandoned or modified the rite because of concerns about its role in spreading disease. Today, most Reform, Conservative and modern Orthodox mohels use gauze, or a sterile tube, to pull blood from the wound. The ritual is still practiced widely, however, in New York City's large population of ultra-Orthodox Jews. After the regulation was adopted in September, some rabbis vowed to ignore it, saying the government had no business regulating a religious practice. © 2012 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. On Thursday, January 16, 2014 6:47:27 AM UTC-6, Travis wrote: > > > > > BareNakedIslam posted: " State of Washington 63rd Legislature 2014 > Regular Session HOUSE BILL 2190 AN ACT Relating to female genital > mutilation; amending RCW 26.44.020; adding a new section to chapter 9A.36 > RCW; creating a new section; and prescribing penalties. " > > New post on *BARE NAKED ISLAM* > <http://www.barenakedislam.com/?author=1> WASHINGTON STATE’s pending > legislation that seeks to prohibit the barbaric Muslim practice of Female > Genital Mutilation of young > girls<http://www.barenakedislam.com/2014/01/15/washington-states-pending-legislation-that-seeks-to-prohibit-the-barbaric-muslim-practice-of-female-genital-mutilation-of-young-girls/> > by > BareNakedIslam <http://www.barenakedislam.com/?author=1> > > State of Washington 63rd Legislature 2014 Regular Session HOUSE BILL > 2190 AN ACT Relating to female genital mutilation; amending RCW 26.44.020; > adding a new section to chapter 9A.36 RCW; creating a new section; and > prescribing penalties. Read the entire bill here: > http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2013-14/Pdf/Bills/House%20Bills/2190.pdfh/t > HuckFolder BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON: > Sec. […] > > Read more of this > post<http://www.barenakedislam.com/2014/01/15/washington-states-pending-legislation-that-seeks-to-prohibit-the-barbaric-muslim-practice-of-female-genital-mutilation-of-young-girls/> > *BareNakedIslam <http://www.barenakedislam.com/?author=1>* | January > 15, 2014 at 9:00 pm | URL: http://wp.me/p276zM-10Th > > > Comment<http://www.barenakedislam.com/2014/01/15/washington-states-pending-legislation-that-seeks-to-prohibit-the-barbaric-muslim-practice-of-female-genital-mutilation-of-young-girls/#respond> > > See all > comments<http://www.barenakedislam.com/2014/01/15/washington-states-pending-legislation-that-seeks-to-prohibit-the-barbaric-muslim-practice-of-female-genital-mutilation-of-young-girls/#comments> > > > > Unsubscribe<https://subscribe.wordpress.com/?key=7f89380f46003915c34c2cdd2b126a38&email=bovinescatologists%40gmail.com&b=sdP.K3Wxou0%5D%2CGdi%2CfhBLW_j%3FRvaejPbFG8laTcUM%253Hh%7E_%7Epy>to > no longer receive posts from BARE NAKED ISLAM. > Change your email settings at Manage > Subscriptions<https://subscribe.wordpress.com/?key=7f89380f46003915c34c2cdd2b126a38&email=bovinescatologists%40gmail.com>. > > > > *Trouble clicking?* Copy and paste this URL into your browser: > > http://www.barenakedislam.com/2014/01/15/washington-states-pending-legislation-that-seeks-to-prohibit-the-barbaric-muslim-practice-of-female-genital-mutilation-of-young-girls/ > > > > > > -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
