Michigan doctor says female genital surgery was a 'religious practice' -- not mutilation

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32. Health reasons would eliminate the traditional method of circumcision

NYC to automatically ban mohels linked to newborn herpes cases
March 31, 2017 7:07am

(JTA) — The New York City Health Department said it will ban ritual circumcisers automatically if the infant they treated orally develops a herpes infection.

The ban would affect those who perform the ritual known as metzitzah b’peh, in which the person performing the circumcision, known as a mohel, sucks blood from the wound following circumcision. It is a common practice among many haredi Orthodox Jews. When performed directly with the mouth as opposed to through a sterile pipette, it has been linked directly to the transmission of the herpes virus.

Under the new regulation, “every time there is a mohel who performed metzitzah b’peh on an infant who has contracted HSV-1, the Health Department will serve them with Commissioner’s orders banning them from performing the ritual,” The Jewish Week of New York reported Thursday, quoting city officials. HSV-1 is a type of herpes.

The Health Department will now ban the mohels linked to cases of herpes in newborns without testing for the virus, the newspaper reported. Prior to the regulation, the ban would be issued only pending tests both of the mohel and the baby.
http://www.jta.org/2017/03/31/news-opinion/united-states/nyc-to-automatically-ban-mohels-if-children-they-treated-orally-get-herpes