In a thoroughly convincing ruling, Manhattan Federal Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald has upheld the city's mild regulation of a circumcision procedure used by some Hasidic Jews.
In metzitzah b'peh, the mohel removes blood from the incision using his mouth. City health officials, backed by national medical experts, assert there is a risk of transmitting herpes this way. Herpes in a newborn can kill.
And so, carefully weighing constitutionally protected religious activity and public health concerns, the city simply and sensibly sought parental consent. Buchwald refused to block the regulation. Protecting babies was the right call.
