NEW YORK (AP) — New York City's Board of Health has voted to require parental consent for a form of circumcision that involves oral suction.
The board voted 9-0 Thursday to require that anyone performing the ritual practiced by some ultra-Orthodox Jews obtain written consent from a parent or guardian.
The parents will have to sign a form acknowledging that the city Health Department advises against the practice because of risks of herpes and other infections.
The Health Department says there have been 11 confirmed cases of herpes simplex since 2004 in newborn boys after circumcisions that likely involved direct oral suction. Two of the infants died.
Defenders of the practice said they will ignore the new rule.
Rabbi William Handler of Brooklyn said the circumcision ritual is 3,000 years old and is safe.
