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Mayoral Candidates (Mostly) Agree: Snip-N-Suck Circumcision Consent Forms Are Good
By
Ben Yakas
Published May 4, 2013
Modified May 4, 2013
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Alec Tabak/Gothamist
By
Ben Yakas
Published May 4, 2013
Modified May 4, 2013
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Last year, the Board of Health unanimously approved a circumcision consent form that requires parents to sign a waiver before their infant can undergo the "metzitzah b’peh" ritual—the circumcision practice in which a mohel sucks the blood from a freshly snipped foreskin. Jewish groups fought the decision, but a judge ultimately ruled in favor of the city in January. Now, the candidates fighting to become the next mayor have weighed in on the controversial measure to The Jewish Daily Forward, almost all agreeing that the consent form is a thing they'd uphold. Except John Liu, who is apparently a-okay with a few babies getting herpes so long as he doesn't have to agree with Bloomberg.
“For thousands of years, this has been a practice that has been observed by people,” Liu told the Forward. “As with most procedures, some risk is inherent. But I would certainly defer to the rabbis on this, as opposed to thinking that, well, we know better after thousands of years of this practice.” But doctors do know better—they know that there are new advanced diseases that are spread from contact between a herpes-ridden mohel and an infant baby's penis. They know that there have been at least 13 cases of herpes infection in Jewish newborns confirmed as a result of the ritual since 2000 in NYC, including two so far this year.
Joe Lhota said the signed consent forms was “a reasonable approach” to tell parents what the risks are. John Catsimatidis “believes a mohel’s work should be regulated by the health department, just like a variety of other procedures are." Bill Thompson and Bill de Blasio both gave slightly more guarded positive responses, criticizing the administration for not better reaching out to the community, but not saying they were against the forms.
And Christine Quinn told The Forward that the use of signed consent forms “protects religious freedoms” and is the “right policy,” but that the city’s health department “must do a better job in the future with its outreach on sensitive issues in which public health and religious practices intersect.”
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bris
circumcision
consent
jewish
mayoral candidates
metzitzah b’peh
orthodox
snip-n-suck
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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