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Prison Inmate Sues Hospital Over Circumcision As A Newborn SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (April 17, 2012)--South Dakota prison inmate Dean Cochrun is suing the hospital where he was circumcised as a newborn, claiming the procedure has robbed him of his sexual prowess. The suit asks for $1,000 in compensatory and punitive damages. Cochrun is acting as his own lawyer. The lawsuit also requests that his circumcision be reversed.

A two-week-old infant died at a Brooklyn hospital in September after contracting herpes through a controversial religious circumcision ritual, the New York Daily News reported. As part of the ultra-orthodox Jewish circumcision ritual—known as metzitzah b’peh—the rabbi or mohel removes blood from the wound with his mouth. The brit milah (pronounced bris), otherwise known as circumcision, is a rite of passage in the Jewish faith, though different groups follow different sets of procedures. The Rabbinical Council of America endorses the practice of using a sterile glass tube between the mohel’s mouth and the baby’s wound for the more orthodox metzitzah...

“Circumcision and Name Both Say ‘Savior’” (Luke 2:21)Today is New Year’s Day, a day for looking forward to the year that lies ahead. It’s a day for plans and goals and New Year’s resolutions. “This is the year, finally, when I will get my weight under control, or when I will start exercising more regularly, or when I start being more faithful in my daily devotions.” All well and good. These can be good goals to have. January 1, 2012. This is also a day when we begin a new chapter in the life of our church. How is this...

NAIROBI (TrustLaw) – Armed youths battled the police in southern Kenya, demanding the release of two women arrested for carrying out female genital mutilation (FGM), the Daily Nation reported on Thursday. In Kuria, near the Kenya-Tanzania border, hundreds of girls as young as eight have been circumcised in the last few weeks, even though the practice is illegal. When the police arrested two women circumcisers who were cutting young girls, locals blocked their vehicle, demanding the women’s release. The police had to fire in the air to scare off the protestors, the report said. Armed youths then engaged the police...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown announced on Sunday that he signed a bill preventing local authorities from banning the practice of male circumcision. The bill, which takes effect immediately, comes in the wake of an effort by a San Francisco group opposed to male circumcision to enforce a city-wide ban of the practice in a November ballot measure. That effort was struck down in late July by a California judge who said it would infringe on religious freedom. The measure was removed from the November ballot. The measure, which garnered 12,000 signatures of support, would have made...

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Loretta Giorgi on Wednesday issued a tentative ruling saying the proposed ballot measure to ban circumcision in the city must be withdrawn, calling it "expressly preempted" by state law. Lloyd Schofield, 59 year old anti-circumcision activist, was determined to have male circumcision banned by legislation in San Francisco. For starters, he gathered 12,000 signatures, while ony 7,168 are required for the city of 750,000 by the city’s Department of Elections, for his proposal to be placed on the ballet in the November 8th San Francisco elections . The measure, which would only apply in San...

It appears that San Francisco voters this November may not have the opportunity to vote on whether to ban male circumcision. As we noted earlier, a San Francisco ballot measure called the Male Genital Mutilation bill, which would have banned circumcisions for those under the age of 18 and would have penalized violators with possible fines and up to a year behind bars, had drawn a constitutional challenge. Yesterday, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Loretta Giorgi took a snip out of the ballot proposal, ruling that it had to be withdrawn as “expressly preempted” by state law. Here’s a report...

The city of San Francisco finally weighed in on a local ballot measure that asks voters to ban the circumcision of male children, saying its attorney claim the proposed law would be unconstitutional if applied to Jewish mohels. The city attorney's office made the argument in response to a lawsuit by a coalition of Jews and Muslims that has asked a California court to remove the initiative from this year's November 8 ballot. The lawsuit, which names both the city and the anti-circumcision activist who qualified the measure, argues that state law bars local governments from restricting medical procedures. If...

A circumcision ban measure on the November ballot contains clearly anti-Semitic campaign material and targets members of the Jewish faith, according to a press release Thursday from the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office. Jewish groups, along with some Muslim individuals, filed a lawsuit over the measure last week against The City’s director of elections and Lloyd Schofield, the San Francisco resident who gathered more than 12,000 signatures to get the proposed ban on the ballot. Groups that filed the suit argue that state law prevents local jurisdictions from restricting medical practice by “healing arts professionals” and that the ban would...

Colorado will end coverage for routine circumcisions under Medicaid next month, adding to what's become a national debate over the once widely-accepted procedure. The change will take effect July 1. Lawmakers agreed to end funding as part of a package of cuts to balance the budget.

Nothing like a proposed ban on circumcision to bring Jews and Muslims together. Local chapters of the Jewish Community Relations Council and Anti-Defamation League are teaming up with a couple of practicing Jewish and Muslim families to file a lawsuit demanding that San Francisco's elections director remove the highly publicized circumcision ban from the November ballot. The lawsuit, which is expected to be filed today in San Francisco Superior Court, argues that circumcision is a common medical procedure regulated by state law - and that it has no business being decided by city voters.

Amid an intensifying debate over a ballot measure to ban the circumcision of boys in San Francisco, state and federal laws are being proposed to ban such bans. Opponents of the measure have accused the effort of being anti-Semitic. A group of religious leaders and politicians are denouncing the effort as an infringement on religious freedoms. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, said recently he would introduce the so-called Religious and Parental Rights Defense Act of 2011 to prevent San Francisco and other places to enact such circumcision bans. Assemblyman Mike Gatto, D-Los Angeles, reportedly is planning to introduce a similar...

Evangelicals have come out in opposition to a proposed ban on circumcision in northern California. The National Association of Evangelicals, which represents more than 45,000 local churches, released a statement on Thursday expressing solidarity with Jewish and Muslim leaders in their stance against the ban. “While evangelical denominations traditionally neither require nor forbid circumcision, we join Jews and Muslims in opposing this ban and standing together for religious freedom," said NAE President Leith Anderson. "Jews, Muslims, and Christians all trace our spiritual heritage back to Abraham. Biblical circumcision begins with Abraham. No American government should restrict this historic tradition. Essential...

Russell Crowe, the Gladiator star, has sparked outrage after describing circumcision as barbaric in an angry four-letter outburst on the social networking site Twitter. The Oscar-winning actor laballed the practice “barbaric and stupid” during a row with his Twitter followers, telling them to “f--- off” if they disagreed with him. The 47-year-old engaged in an angry exchange with one follower, whom he branded a “moron”, before imploring Jewish people to “stop cutting your babies”. The debate followed a question by one of his fans called @picknic11 who asked him: “My son is due soon. Do you think I should get...

San Francisco wants to vote on banning circumcisions of baby boys/anything birthed by Rosie O'Donnell, and now interest in it is spreading across the country...apparently... (Matthew "I really really REALLY need a life") Hess has created similar legislation for states across the country, but those measures never had much traction. Now he is fielding calls from people who want to organize similar movements in their cities. “This is a conversation we are long overdue to have in this country,� he said. “The end goal for us is making cutting boys’ foreskin a federal crime.� See the full story here...

You have to wonder very seriously if these people are insane. The San Diego-based group that is laboring to get circumcision banned in San Francisco has perpetrated a comic book. In it, a superhero named Foreskin Man saves a baby boy from being circumcised by the evil Monster Mohel, a vicious-looking Orthodox Jewish rabbi who could have been drawn by an acolyte of Joseph Goebbels. Indeed, Foreskin Man has a distinctly Hitlerian “Aryan” look to him. It’s crystal clear from the dialogue that the perpetrator of this literary opus intends to depict the Judaic religious view of circumcision as evil...

Recently, enough signatures were gathered in San Francisco to place a ban on circumcision on this November's ballot. Today, the blogosphere is buzzing with an online comic book by one of the initiatives most prominent supporters called "Foreskin Man". The titled super hero is tasked with saving infant boys from the barbarism of circumcision. J.E. Dyer of HOT AIR has it correct: "It’s crystal clear from the dialogue that the perpetrator of this literary opus intends to depict the Judaic religious view of circumcision as evil and repulsive.  The “comic” hauls out every theme of Jew hatred in the arsenal. Note...

As you may have heard by now, San Francisco will be voting this November on whether or not to ban circumcision in the city. Defenders of the measure say it’s all about “human rights” and “protecting babies” from unnecessary procedures. But critics suspected there was something vaguely anti-Semitic about the whole proposal, since among Jews (and Muslims, as well) circumcising male babies is a religious duty, not just a mistaken medical procedure. Ban proponents insisted their proposal had nothing to do with Jews — really, it’s all about the rights of children. Well, any doubt that they were lying have...

Last week I posted on a clearly antisemitic piece of legislation in San Francisco and Santa Monica banning the Jewish religious tradition of circumcision. Judenrein in Sunny Southern California: Banning Male Circumcision. America, this is getting very, very ugly. Male circumcision is significantly healthier with or without the important religious significance. The Islamic practice of female genital mutilation (cutting off the clitoris) is sick misogyny. To equate the two is officially legislating Jew-hatred. Any doubt this was motivated by hatred and racism? Zombie over at PJM: Proof that S.F.’s circumcision ban is anti-Semitic As you may have heard by now,...

In 2010, San Francisco supervisors banned Happy Meals. They showed no regard for parental choice. So it should not come as a shock that activists have managed to put a measure on the November ballot that essentially would outlaw the circumcision of baby boys. If it passes, parents won't be able to choose to circumcise their infant sons. The penalty for the "genital cutting of male minors" will be a $1,000 fine and/or up to a year in jail. The ballot measure bills itself as a ban on "forced genital cutting" and "mutilation." Clearly, the authors want to confuse voters...

I've been wondering if the folks behind the circumcision ballot measure in San Francisco -- the subject of my most recent column -- are anti-Semites. Here's a clue. The mgmbill.org web site links to this site.

ON THE BALLOT in San Francisco this fall will be a proposal making it a crime to circumcise male children. If the measure passes, anyone convicted of circumcising a baby boy could be fined up to $1,000 and sentenced to a year in prison. Even for San Francisco, this is madness. The circumcising of newborn boys is perhaps the most familiar type of surgery in the United States. According to the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, US hospitals perform the procedure more than 1.2 million times each year. While there are wide variations by ethnicity and region, and...

It's a personal story, but let it also serve as a public health rebuttal to the proposed ban on male circumcision that will be on the San Francisco ballot this November. San Francisco's ballot initiative would prohibit circumcision on all males under the age of 18. It would allow no religious exemptions, and it apparently gives no regard to the numerous studies demonstrating that male circumcision can substantially reduce—by more than 50%—the transmission of the HIV virus during sex. "Communities, and especially women, may benefit much more from circumcision interventions than had previously been predicted, and these results provide an...

"Five young boys in the nude, a police line-up so that you can identify his tallywhacker. Please, please can we call it a "tallywhacker"? Penis is so ppp... penis is so personal."  ---Principal Carter from “Porky’s.” The most recent episode of “South Park” featured the characters obsessed on the subject of penis. It was funny but I thought it was a bit over the top....until I read a news story about a San Francisco circumcision ban ballot initiative shortly after the show aired:SAN FRANCISCO — A proposal to ban the circumcision of male children in San Francisco has been cleared to...

A group seeking to ban the circumcision of male children in San Francisco has succeeded in getting their controversial measure on the November ballot, meaning voters will be asked to weigh in on what until now has been a private family matter. City elections officials confirmed Wednesday that the initiative had received enough signatures to appear on the ballot, getting more than 7,700 valid signatures from city residents. Initiatives must receive at least 7,168 signatures to qualify. If the measure passes, circumcision would be prohibited among males under the age of 18. The practice would become a misdemeanor offense punishable...

SAN FRANCISCO -- In November, San Francisco voters will be asked to weigh in on what was until now a private family matter: male circumcision. City elections officials confirmed Wednesday that an initiative that would ban the circumcision of males younger than 18 in San Francisco has received enough signatures to appear on the ballot. The practice would become a misdemeanor.

San Francisco voters in November will be asked to weigh in on what was until now a private family matter: male circumcision. City elections officials confirmed Wednesday that an initiative that would ban the circumcision of males younger than 18 in San Francisco has received enough signatures to appear on the ballot. The practice would become a misdemeanor. Supporters of the ban say male circumcision is a form of genital mutilation that should not be forced on a young child. But opponents say such claims are alarmingly misleading, and call the proposal a clear violation of constitutionally protected religious freedoms.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Officials say hundreds of boys in a Philippine city have turned out for a daylong "circumcision party." The event in Marikina city east of Manila aims to promote safe circumcision in a region where the surgery is sometimes performed by non-doctors using crude methods.

The practice of infant circumcision, which carries particular religious significance for Jews, may be outlawed later this year in San Fransisco. A ballot initiative is underway which would ask voters whether to prohibit the practice in November. The proposed new law would make it a misdemeanor to circumcise a person before they are 18-years-old."We don't come at this from a religious angle," Lloyd Schofield told the San Francisco Examiner. "We feel this is a very harmful thing. Parents are guardians. They are not owners of children. It's a felony to tattoo a child." The effort is being taken seriously in...

With all the trouble in the world they're worried about what? Some in San Francisco want to Ban Male Circumcision They are pushing for vote on the matter this fall. Supporters of the law call circumcision 'Male Genital Mutilation' - and they want it banned. They want to make it: "...Unlawful to circumcise, excise, cut, or mutilate the whole or any part of the foreskin, testicles, or penis" of anyone 17 or younger in San Francisco..."

Somewhere in the vast wastelands of the internet there must be a blog which does nothing but monitor the denizens of San Francisco, 24 x 7, to keep track of all the mind boggling things that go on there. If such a portal already exists, I’m sure they’ll be all over this story in no time at all. San Francisco may vote on banning male circumcisionSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A group opposed to male circumcision said on Tuesday they have collected more than enough signatures to qualify a proposal to ban the practice in San Francisco as a ballot measure...

Self-described "civil rights advocates" say that a ballot proposition to ban circumcision is on track for gathering signatures, meaning that San Franciscans may vote on the measure this November. The proposed law is being spearheaded by local resident Lloyd Schofield, according to the San Francisco Examiner. It's part of a national push to end the procedure, which some say is steeped in tradition but poses risks and has little medical benefit. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association do not recommend routine circumcision. Getting on the ballot is the easy part -- only about 7,000 signatures are...

An Israeli organization is training local doctors all over Africa to circumcise adult men in order to reduce the spread of HIV/Aids on the continent. Operation Abraham Collaboration (OAC) recently sent nine Israeli doctors to South Africa, the country with the largest population living with HIV/Aids with over 5 million infected, to train doctors to perform the delicate procedure. The World Health Organization has declared that circumcision is an “additional, important intervention’ in the campaign against the spread of the HIV/AIDS. The results are based on clinical trials performed in Africa that found a sixty percent lower occurrence of the...

It's not every day we phone an average San Francisco resident to ask about foreskin. In fact, it's no day. Ever. Until now. But Lloyd Schofield's used to such calls because he's collecting signatures to get a circumcision ban on the city ballot in November 2011. "Someone else told me they were calling me at 11 o'clock for an interview," he said. "I might have to - I hate to say it - cut you short." We love it when interview subjects make our jokes for us! Schofield's ordinance would outlaw the procedure throughout San Francisco, even for religious reasons....

The Board of Supervisors just banned toys in Happy Meals, which drew worldwide attention.Now the latest ban being proposed in San Francisco is on male circumcision.A proposed ballot measure for the November 2011 ballot – when voters will be electing the San Francisco’s next mayor – would amend The City’s police code “to make it a misdemeanor to circumcise, excise, cut or mutilate the foreskin, testicle or penis of another person who has not attained the age of 18.” Doing so would result in a fine of up to $1,000 and up to one year in jail, according to the...

the measure would change San Francisco's police code “to make it a misdemeanor to circumcise, excise, cut or mutilate the foreskin, testicle or penis of another person under the age of 18......... Lloyd Schofield, San Francisco resident is proposing a ballot measure that would ban circumcision in the City, according to the San Francisco Examiner. If passed in November 2011, the measure would change San Francisco's police code “to make it a misdemeanor to circumcise, excise, cut or mutilate the foreskin, testicle or penis of another person under the age of 18.” The punishment up to a $1,000 fine and...

Apostle Paul made a minister to the Gentiles for the grace of God, just as the Apostle Peter was made a minister to the circumcision.

MIAMI -- A Miami family says a hospital mistakenly circumcised their baby even though they repeatedly told staff they did not want the procedure. Vera Delgado said she told staff at South Miami Hospital several times that she did not want her baby, Mario Viera, to be circumcised last month. But eight days after his birth and without his mother present, doctors performed the surgery even though he was in intensive care. Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/13/1822589/hospital-mistakenly-circumcises.html#ixzz0zdW1YL3E

Which comes first, Faith or works?…Romans 4 by billrandles Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:And the father of circumcision to...

Pray For The Peace Of Jerusalem~Origins The Book of Genesis Chapter 17 1. And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. 2. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. 3. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, 4. As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. 5. Neither shall thy name any more be...

What is the American Academy of Pediatrics thinking? Why would this esteemed medical organization backtrack on a firm policy against female circumcision? Now the American Academy of Pediatrics has announced that it will permit a modified symbol of female circumcision that allows doctors to nick or prick the clitoris of young girls so that families do not get a full female circumcision done. Why? Why subject young girls to anything that traumatizes them and associates their genital region with a ceremony that causes them physical pain and emotional distress? And why even honor the concept of female circumcision with a...

TARRYTOWN, N.Y., May 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The founder and director of Intact America, which has been campaigning to change the way America thinks about male circumcision, today blasted the American Academy of Pediatrics' call to legalize a form of female genital cutting, a practice outlawed in this country as a type of genital mutilation linked to oppression of girls and women. "We believe in the human rights of all babies to intact bodies, but have been focused on male circumcision because we believed the horror of female genital mutilation had been outlawed forever in the United States," said Georganne Chapin....

A group has filed the “Male Genital Mutilation Bill” with the Massachusetts Legislature. It calls for a ban on circumcision for males under 18, unless medically necessary, and with no religious exemptions. There will be a public hearing for the bill, S. 1777, at the State House in Boston on Tuesday, March 2 at 1 p.m. in Hearing Room 1A. Of course, there have been anti-circumcision movements before, but most Jews historically have continued the religious practice of circumcision even under the threat of death. The leader of this current initiative, Matthew Hess, president of the group called the Bill...

A group has filed the “Male Genital Mutilation Bill” with the Massachusetts Legislature. It calls for a ban on circumcision for males under 18, unless medically necessary, and with no religious exemptions. There will be a public hearing for the bill, S. 1777, at the State House in Boston on Tuesday, March 2 at 1 p.m. in Hearing Room 1A. Of course, there have been anti-circumcision movements before, but most Jews historically have continued the religious practice of circumcision even under the threat of death. The leader of this current initiative, Matthew Hess, president of the group called the Bill...

A man who performed an amateur circumcision on his four-year-old son on the floor of the family kitchen has been found guilty of criminal negligence. The man, identified only as D.J.W. in a written B.C. Supreme Court ruling released this week, was found not guilty of aggravated assault and assault with a weapon. Justice Marion Allan said D.J.W. ought to have known better, partly because a circumcision he earlier performed on himself led to bleeding, sutures and infection. “The fact that the accused had previously ineptly circumcised himself exacerbates, rather than minimizes, his awareness of the risks of home circumcision...

Gee you go on vacation for a few days and weird things start happening. The New York Times reported that public health officials in the Center For Disease Congto (CDC) are considering promoting routine circumcision for all baby boys born in the United States to reduce the spread of H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. The topic is a delicate one that has already generated controversy, even though a formal draft of the proposed recommendations, due out from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by the end of the year, has yet to be released. Experts are also considering...

In an effort to reduce the spread of HIV, public health officials are considering the promotion of “universal circumcision” for all baby boys born in the United States. The move comes after officials analyzed the results of several studies that show in African countries hit hard by HIV, men who were circumcised reduced their infection risk by half, the New York Times reported. However, those studies focused on heterosexual men who are at risk of getting HIV from infected female partners. The main issue in the U.S. is men who have sex with men. In 2008, the CDC estimated that...

Public health officials are considering promoting routine circumcision for all baby boys born in the United States to reduce the spread of H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. The topic is a delicate one that has already generated controversy, even though a formal draft of the proposed recommendations, due out from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by the end of the year, has yet to be released. Experts are also considering whether the surgery should be offered to adult heterosexual men whose sexual practices put them at high risk of infection. But they acknowledge that a circumcision drive...

Female genital cutting, or circumcision, is rampant in parts of Kenya. The procedure involves removing part or all of the external female genitalia and is typically performed on girls as a rite of passage into womanhood. Critics describe it as female genital mutilation, or FGM. In the town of Meru, Eastern province, the Catholic Church has come up with an alternative rite of passage for girls and young women. A group of grandmothers demonstrate how to serve food and which herbs to use to cure specific ailments A group of grandmothers demonstrate how to serve food and which herbs to...

A man who gave himself a DIY circumcision using nail clippers was taken to hospital for emergency treatment. Published: 9:00AM BST 30 Jun 2009 Nail clippers: 'This is something we would advise men never to attempt,' a medic said The young man had to be rushed to the Lister Hospital in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. The wound was disinfected to cleanse it before he was given a bed in an observation ward. "This is something we would advise men never to attempt," a medic said, "The results can be quite horrific and long-lasting and have quite an affect on a man's sexual...