Fourth New York Jewish baby this year treated for herpes after controversial Orthodox circumcision method

Daily Mail, UK/December 26, 2014

By Alexandra Klausner

A fourth baby has contracted herpes in New York this year following a controversial circumcision called metzizah b'peh, a ritual in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in which the baby's genitals come in contact with the mouth of the man performing the service.

According to the NYC Department of Health, the baby was born in November and showed signs of herpes infection on the penis shortly after being circumcised.

The method of circumcision in question ends with the man who performs the ceremony, called a mohel, sucking blood from the baby's foreskin to stop the bleeding.

Many mohels have ignored the new regulation and some Orthodox groups argued that the new law was an infringement on their first amendment rights.

Mayor Bill de Blasio also promised to regulate 'metzitzah b'peh.'

'I would start over,' he said during a Democratic debate last year.

'Change the policy to find a way to protect all the children but also respect religious tradition in an appropriate manner and come in Day 1 to City Hall with a new policy that's fair.'

Since entering office De Blasio has yet to come up with a new policy.

According to The New York Daily News  some ultra-Orthodox Jews took de Blasio's statement as a sign that the regulation was an unnecessary intrusion and so they chose to ignore it.

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