New York Times
June 12, 2012
City Urges Requiring Consent for Jewish Rite
By Sharon Otterman
New York City health officials proposed on Tuesday that Orthodox
Jewish parents be required to sign a consent waiver before they can take
part in a circumcision ritual that is believed to have led to the
deaths of at least two babies in the city over the past decade.
The proposal, introduced at a Board of Health meeting, represents an
escalation of the city’s efforts to curtail the ancient Jewish procedure
of
metzitzah b’peh, in which an adult male, usually the
circumciser, places his mouth directly on the wound created by the
removal of the infant’s foreskin to suck away the blood.
Last week, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
published a report based on city information that said that from 2000 to
2011, 11 newborn babies in New York contracted the herpes simplex virus
after the ritual. Ten of those babies were hospitalized;
two suffered brain damage, and two died.
Based on those findings, the city’s health department issued a
statement last week strongly urging that direct oral-genital suction not
be performed during circumcision. It also announced that a number of
hospitals had agreed to distribute a pamphlet to parents considering
at-home circumcision, warning them of the risks.
On Tuesday, Dr. Jay K. Varma, deputy commissioner for disease control
for the health department, announced the city’s next step, proposing
that the Board of Health, which approves public health policies, require
all parents who want direct oral suction to be used to sign a consent
form indicating that they are aware of the risk of infection.
...
... In its study, the C.D.C. estimated that roughly 3,600 newborn
boys a year in New York had circumcisions that included the procedure.
Those infants, the agency said, had more than triple the normal risk of
contracting herpes.
Over the past decade, as stories of babies sickened after such
circumcisions have come to light, ultra-Orthodox authorities have
strongly defended the practice as a religious right.
[There
is no such thing as "a religious right", only the rights of people to
practise religion, which are subordinate to human rights.]
Some rabbis argue that there is not enough evidence to show that the
procedure causes infection, while others say the practice is important
enough that it should be continued anyway.
Avi Shafran, spokesman for Agudath Israel, an umbrella group for many
ultra-Orthodox organizations, said on Tuesday that the group wanted to
study the proposed regulation before commenting on it. In March, the
organization’s executive vice president, Rabbi David Zwiebel, warned
that regulating the practice could drive it underground, making it more
risky.
[This objection is never used against regulating female genital cutting.]
In his presentation to the Board of Health, Dr. Varma said that two
of the families whose babies got herpes after the ritual had told health
authorities that they were unaware beforehand that it would be
performed. He said distressed families had called, as recently as two
weeks ago, saying they did not know their mohel would place his mouth on
their infant’s wound, and wanting to know what could be done.
The health department is accepting public comments on the regulation
until a public hearing on July 23, and will vote on it in September. Dr.
Varma said the department was prepared for opposition.
“Since we are regulating how part of a religious procedure is done,
this will be heavily scrutinized by legal experts, and it may be
challenged at some point,” he said. “But we feel we are on very firm
legal ground, because there is a compelling interest on behalf of the
city in protecting the health of infants.”
[How does allowing parentally consented metzitzah protect the health of infants?]
...
Earlier story
