Circumcision Ban: Violating Religious Freedom? (Odyssey Networks)

A coalition including Jewish and Muslim groups have launched a lawsuit challenging a proposed ban on circumcision that is due to go before San Francisco voters in the Fall. The coalition asserts that a ban on circumcision, a ritual practice in both religious traditions, represents a violation of the right to religious expression, and that, legally, the city is not authorized to bar a medical practice. Proponents of the ban assert that women are protected from forced genital mutilation, and men are no less deserving of that protection. The proposal would ban all circumcisions on males under the age of 18; there is no religious exemption.

It doesn’t look like this will become law, but the arguments on both sides are interesting.