Infants are being infected with herpes after ultra-Orthodox Jewish clergy suck the blood off a newborn's penis at circumcision. The ritual Jewish circumcision, known as metzitzah b'peh, involves the practitioner, or mohel, placing his mouth around the baby's penis to suck the blood off the penis in order to “ritually cleanse the wound.”
According to the New York City Health Department, ultra-Orthodox ritual Jewish circumcision has been linked to the spread of herpes,a potentially deadly virus for infants. The New York City Bureau of Sexually Transmitted Disease Control reports there have been 13 such case in New York City since 2000. Two of those infants died (including one last year), and two others have suffered brain damage as a result.
Dr. William Schaffner, chair of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University, comments on the controversial and dangerous religious ritual:
"First, these are serious infections in newborns, and second, there is no safe way an individual can perform oral suction on an open wound. Third, these terrible infections are completely preventable. They should not occur in the 21st century with our scientific knowledge."
What do you think about this ritual Jewish circumcision known as metzitzah b'peh? Is this child abuse, or acceptable religious practice? Do parents have the moral right to expose their infant sons’ to the potential risks involved in the procedure? Does this primitive Bronze Age blood ritual have any place in the 21st century? Leave a comment - express yourself.
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