New York – The New York City Department of Health is expected today to vote on the controversial proposed regulation of the circumcision practice known as metzitzah b’peh.
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The City wants to require parents to sign an informed consent document prior to the performance of metzitzah b’peh stating they acknowledge there are risks associated with the practice, including the transmission of the herpes simplex virus (HSV-1). Oral herpes is spread through contact with infected saliva.
The vote is expected to be held later in the day.
This vote is a easy one to help prevent children from getting sick it has nothing to do with religious freedom
§ 181.21 Consent for direct oral suction as part of a circumcision.
(a) Direct oral suction means contact between the mouth of a person performing a circumcision and the infant’s circumcised penis.
(b) Written informed consent required. A person may not perform a circumcision that involves direct oral suction on a child under one year of age without obtaining, prior to the circumcision, the written informed consent of a parent or legal guardian of the child who is being circumcised in a form approved or provided by the Department. The written informed consent must include notice that direct oral
suction exposes the infant to the risk of transmission of herpes simplex virus infection and other infectious diseases.
(c) Retention of consent forms. The person performing the circumcision must give the parent or legal guardian a copy of the signed consent form and retain the original for one year from the date of the circumcision, making it available for inspection if requested by the Department.
unreal!! what germany respects, the so called jew: Bloomberg dosent!!!!!!!
Guaranteed to pass and go through.
Are there any confirmed accounts that a virus was contracted from the mbp?
This may come as a shock to some people, but I maintain that the DoH should NOT pass this measure. It has already caused such a backlash that mbp has been elevated to the status of a tremendous mitzvah, and most Chareidim are more eager than ever to do it. The best way to stop mbp at this point (and promote the use of a pipette or other safe alternative) is to meet quietly with concerned Chareidi doctors, mohelim, and rabbonim, and inform them of the serious risks involved. That is our best chance of protecting the lives and health of innocent babies. I am afraid that using the heavy hand of the law will make matters worse. I hope that I am wrong.
With G-d’s help, the Health Department will pass the regulation which will be sustained upon the expected legal challenges, and young Jewish neshomos will be less likely to be hurt or killed by minhagim espoused by those whose greatest fear is that said consent is but an opening salvo in an assault on bris milah itself. Many of these same parties also believe that it is against the Torah for Jews to be educated in secular skills other than those taught in primary school, that it is OK for chilonim to defend datiyim against attack by enemies in Israel (but cholilah not vice versa), and that the Medinah is treif (but it’s fine to take public monies to support their institutions in exchange for votes).
We are now on the cusp of Rosh HaShonoh. Collectively, we all need to do a cheshbon ha-nefesh to create achdus, and for us to realize that mitzvos are for living – and for the living. There’s no need to kill infants because the followers of the Chasam Sofer, reacting to the inroads made by the Reform Movement in Central Europe, rejected their Rebbe’s acquiescence to use of a pipette for those who insisted on metzizah.