San Francisco Circumcision Ban Is Likely To Be on Ballot in November
A proposal to ban circumcision in San Francisco looks likely for the November ballot.
A group opposed to male circumcision told Reuters that it had collected more than enough signatures on petitions to qualify their proposal for the Nov. 8 vote.
The measure, which would apply only in the city of San Francisco, would make it a misdemeanor crime to circumcise a boy before he is 18 years old. The maximum penalty would be a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Circumcisions would be permitted only for medical reasons.
On Tuesday, the group submitted 12,000 signatures for verification to the city’s elections department. If 7,200 of them are valid, the proposal goes on the ballot.
Legal experts told reporters that even if the measure passes in November, it would be challenged as a constitutional violation of freedom of religion.
The Anti-Defamation League and the San Francisco Jewish Community Relations Council have come out against the proposal.
Abby Michaelson-Porth, associate director of the JCRC, told reporters that if the proposal makes it to the ballot, “there will be an organized campaign against it.”
Jewish boys traditionally are circumcised at eight days of age and Muslims at some time during boyhood.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
