(NEWS) San Francisco May Propose To Ban Circumcision Next Year

2:22 PM by 
San Francisco residents could get a chance to vote on banning brit milah, or Jewish ritual circumcision, if a proposed measure gets on next November's ballot.

'Mark down foreskin removal next to Happy Meals on the growing list of things San Franciscans want to ban.



A man in San Francisco is proposing a measure that would make it illegal for parents to circumcise their baby boys.

The initiative would make it a misdemeanor to circumcise, excise, cut or mutilate the genitals of a minor under 18, punishable with a fine of up to $1,000 or up to one year in jail, California's KGPE-TV reported.

The proposal's author, Lloyd Shofield, said that a man should decide whether or not he wants to be circumcised and that the decision should not be made by anyone else.

'It's genital mutilation,' Schofield told KCBS-TV. 'It's a man's body and...his body doesn't belong to his culture, his government, his religion or even his parents. It's his decision.'

Supporters of male circumcision say it leads to better hygiene. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not come out for or against the practice, but statistics show that the practice has become less popular among parents.

The CDC reported that 32% of boys underwent circumcision in 2009, down from 56% in 2006, according to The New York Times.

Voters in San Francisco aren't certain to get an opportunity to cut out circumcision; Schofield needs to round up more than seven thousand signatures for the initiative to make it onto the ballot next November." (source)



Related Article: