Circumcise ban for two clerics
TTHE CITY HAS banned two men from performing a controversial ultra-Orthodox circumcision practice after babies were infected with herpes — but won’t release their names and will rely on them to comply on their own.
Health Commissioner Mary Bassett said Wednesday the city has identified two of the six mohels believed to be responsible for giving infants herpes through a ritual in which they suck the blood from the infant’s newly circumcised genitals — known as metzitzah b’peh — and ordered them not to practice pending a herpes test.
“We expect them to comply," she told the City Council.
But Bassett said the names of the blacklisted mohels would not be made public.
“We have defended the department’s decision in court not to make these names available. People are entitled to their privacy,” she told reporters after the hearing, adding that the names of the infected children are also mentioned on the order and the city wants to shield them.
O R O W
The de Blasio administration repealed a requirement that parents sign a consent form before their child undergoes the ritual, imposed by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Since the change, six babies have developed herpes after undergoing the ritual, it was revealed earlier this month.
Mayor de Blasio said Wednesday that after concluding its previous policy of working with community leaders had failed, the city now planned to do outreach to encourage mothers to quiz their mohels about their herpes status.
“We tried a new policy. It didn’t work, either — which I’m very unhappy about,” he said at an unrelated press conference in Queens. “I don’t think those community leaders did all they could have done. So now we’re going in a different direction
“We’re going to do a much more intensive effort to educate parents, in particular, mothers, as to the dangers of this practice. And we’re going to say to them, it’s important to ask the mohel — if you choose to engage in this practice, that’s your right, and we respect religious freedom — but ask the mohel if they are infected with herpes.
“And if they are, you should find a different mohel. It’s as simple as that.”
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