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Circumcision Ban Makes San Francisco's November Ballot Cut
Filed under: In The News
City elections officials confirmed an initiative that would ban the circumcision of males younger than 18, regardless of religion, will appear on the November the ballot. Credit: AP
When the good folks of San Francisco hit the polls this fall, they'll be asked to vote on a new mayor, the pension system and penises.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports a circumcision ban has made the November ballot -- ahem -- cut, after Department of Elections officials officially certified that a group called "intactivists" managed to round up 7,743 signatures (they needed 7,168) to take the measure to a vote.
The ban would make circumcision on any person younger than 18 a misdemeanor. And, no, your religion would not get you out of it, the newspaper reports. Wanna a little snip, snip anyway? The Chronicle says you would face a $1,000 fine and could spend up to a year in the pokey.
The intactivists and their ilk say circumcision is cruel, the newspaper reports, like cutting off part of an infant's face, while those against it say a ban would be unconstitutional.
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ReaderComments (Page 3 of 8)
5-19-2011 @ 10:58PM
Samberly said...You do know that in the Old Testament of the Bible (which is pretty much the Torah altered a bit) it says that circumcision is supposed to be done, right? Yeah. So if you have a problem with people doing what their religion tells them, you're living in the wrong country. In America, we have a thing called religious tolerance and the freedom of practice. Check out the Constitution.
5-19-2011 @ 3:08PM
Jamie said...Who are these people to tell you how you should parent your children? This is a decision that is between the mother and father of the child not some holier than thou bunch of hypocrits whom probably don't even have children of their own. I have always been raised to believe that I raise my children and you raise your!!! Dont try and throw your beliefs down my throat and ask that I raise my child how YOU see fit.
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5-19-2011 @ 3:15PM
Skywagon said...No one has the right to cut of part of anothers body. If I were male and someone cut off part of my penis as an infant, I would sue everyone involved.
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5-19-2011 @ 3:11PM
mike said...Isn't this closed to the "forced' female circumcisians in the Middle Eastern countries that outraged so many people years ago ????
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5-19-2011 @ 3:29PM
Jennifer said..."closed"?
5-19-2011 @ 4:11PM
Lindsey said...There's a big difference -- female circumcision is different than it is for a male. It's not simply a matter of removing skin, it's done to prevent women from having any pleasure from intercourse and therefore prevent them from cheating. Some also believe it prevents the girl from pleasuring herself or becoming lesbian, that it's a male body part on a female and removal will make her more feminie. Pretty much, messing with a females part would be like chopping the whole thing off the male. I have yet to meet a man that is impacted from his circumcision the way a female would be if they messed with her parts.
5-19-2011 @ 3:14PM
Dick said......requires a rabbit? Now that IS funny! Remember it's a dirty job but somebody has to do it. I suggest the SF city council.
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5-19-2011 @ 3:21PM
SandyBetty said...A state or city ban on circumsions is violation of the 1st Amendment. Jews and Muslims routinely have this ritual as part of their religious tenets. Furthermore, it's been proven that men who are circumsized, regardless of religion, have fewer cases of penile cancer, have fewer urinary tract infections and give their partners fewer reproductive diseases. And, these men have less of a change of picking up venereal diseases. If families choose not to circumsize, that's their right. But a ban is lunacy.
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5-19-2011 @ 3:21PM
D.W.C. Kidder said...This Schofield clown must only like uncut. Some people in San Francisco exhibit no common sense whatsoever
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5-19-2011 @ 3:17PM
Gary Wilkes said...Liberalism ultimately leads to totalitarianism. If cannot be otherwise. "They" know best what is right of everyone. They use force to get what the want. These "small" things are merely the proof of the statement. Obama siezed Chrysler and told the stock holders they would take whatever he decided to give them. Then he gave to company to a special interest group - the UAW. San Francisco banned toys in Happy Meals. They didn't ban anal sex - the leading cause of AIDS. It's all illogical, but there is a blade hiding behind the "love" the claim they have for their fellow man. So, my friends, vote against anyone who wishes to enhance government control of your life. It's really pretty simple. People who wish to control whether your child gets a toy in a Happy Meal are evil. Remove their power base.Vote for anyone who believes in limited government - or live in a dictatorship. It's your choice.
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5-19-2011 @ 3:26PM
Jennifer said...My husband is a pediatrician and when our son was born my husband didn't want him circumcised. I did want the procedure because, as a nurse, I have cared for patients who did not clean themselves properly and they would get infections under the foreskin and also uncircumcised men increase the chance of cervical cancer in their female partners. My husband won the battle and our son didn't get the procedure. As the years passed and our son was in athletics, our son was embarrassed because he looked different. Most of his friends were circumcised and they made fun of him. I don't know...I'm still for circumcision but many insurance companies won't pay for this for a newborn because it is an unnecessary procedure...according to the insurance companies.
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5-19-2011 @ 3:36PM
Dick said...For some reason AOL/HUFFPOST was not posting my comments under my AOL account, so I used another account which worked. Could the subject of circumcision be too much for them to handle?
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5-19-2011 @ 3:39PM
Sok said...Yes, Mike, and you could also say that if God wanted a baby to be aborted he would do it himself. Going by your logic, wouldn't that be true?
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5-19-2011 @ 3:42PM
lola said...THIS isinsane
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5-19-2011 @ 3:44PM
Bonnie Meyers said...If this passes they'll have to drive 10 miles to Oakland to have the baby circumsized. What's next clinics that only do circumsisions ? You can't take away thousands of years of tradition. Will mohels be put in jail if they circumsize ?
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5-19-2011 @ 3:49PM
Judy said...Wake up people, we are allowing our freedoms to be taken away from us. Circumcision has been shown to prevent cancer in males and also in their female partners. We must stop allowing a few people to run our lives.
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5-19-2011 @ 3:52PM
Bob Krotky said...This is part of Jewish religion that got out of hand . When the Jewish male boy comes of age there is a religious rite that is performed that has nothing to do with health. I am 67 and have never been circumcised and have no problems. In fact, not being circumcised makes the head of the penis more sensitive to the touch ( and during sex ). I tried pulling the skin back one time to see what it was like. The head rubbing on my underwear almost drove me nuts. Let the Jewish continue with their religious rites, but it is not a medical procedure that has to be done.
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5-19-2011 @ 3:56PM
SkyBlue said...Being that sensitive, I'll bet you don't last very long either.
5-19-2011 @ 3:52PM
John said...TRULY INSANE!
THIS level of personal intrusion into our privacy is beyond Hitler or Communism, it is BIG BROTHER OUTRAGEOUS and NO ONE in City Government is going to tell me what I MAY OR MAY NOT do with MY penis!!! Ya know that word that vulgarly describes what I can DO with it by sticking it into your anus??? The "F" word? Well F word YOU San Francisco!
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5-19-2011 @ 3:53PM
Jim S said...Only in California. If you as an individual don't want don't get its that damn simple. Stop trying to have your will placed on others! One sick State of affairs.
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