Monday, March 01, 2010

Will Circumcision Soon be Illegal in Massachusetts?

Nechemia Schusterman and Samuel Silver
Fri, February 26, 2010

A group has filed the “Male Genital Mutilation Bill” with the Massachusetts Legislature. It calls for a ban on circumcision for males under 18, unless medically necessary, and with no religious exemptions. There will be a public hearing for the bill, S. 1777, at the State House in Boston on Tuesday, March 2 at 1 p.m. in Hearing Room 1A.

Of course, there have been anti-circumcision movements before, but most Jews historically have continued the religious practice of circumcision even under the threat of death. The leader of this current initiative, Matthew Hess, president of the group called the Bill to End Male Genital Mutilation, was quoted in the Boston Herald (February 21, 2010) as saying “circumcision is painful and unnecessary, violates a baby’s human rights and decreases sexual sensation in mature males.”

Because we see the proposed ban as a violation of religious freedom, we feel it will undoubtedly not pass into law. But these types of claims need to be answered. the rest

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