The City of San Francisco has a small group led by Lloyd Schofield who is trying to put a measure on the November 2011 ballot to ban circumcision within the city limits. His claim is that it is similar enough to the 1996 U.S. Federal ban on female genital mutilation that it warrants being criminalized. He proposes that any person found guilty of the cutting of male genitalia be fined up to $1,000 and/or imprisoned for up to a year in jail. The proposed measure does allow for the procedure should it be deemed medically necessary by a doctor.
Should the measure receive enough signatures to be placed on the ballot, Jewish and Islamic groups are planning on joining together to fight it based on the right to religious freedom. Jews have a 3,000 year tradition of male circumcision to express the entrance into a covenant with God. Muslims also have a long tradition of male circumcision. Worldwide Muslims account for the majority of circumcised males.
There are diverse opinions on the benefits or harm caused by male circumcision, so I doubt that the issue will be decided soon, and surely it will not soon become a civil rights issue like female genital mutilation has, but the debate has begun, and if this qualifies for the ballot, we might see it start to sweep the country within the next 15 years.
For more information on the major group in America opposing male circumcision visit intactamerica.org
