Read also: Circumcision Of Four-Year-Old Boy Scheduled, Protesters Target Surgeon
Florida protesters are continuing their months-long campaign today to protect a healthy four-year-old boy from what they call a ‘spite circumcision.’
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The group South Florida Intactivists Unite said in a press release Monday that it will continue holding peaceful protests outside the office of pediatric surgeon Dr. Subhash R. Puranik, who was scheduled to circumcise the boy, Chase Nebus-Hironimus.
The circumcision has been at the center of a parental battle that evolved into an international controversy. Last week’s scheduled surgery did not take place and protesters credit themselves for “saving the boy from the knife.”
“Performing a painful, traumatic and medically unnecessary surgery on a healthy child who is old enough to say ‘no’ is highly unethical, ” said Jennifer Cote of Pembroke Pines, FL. “If Dr. Puranik truly had Chase’s best interests in mind, he would never even consider doing the surgery.”
Most of the South Florida Intactivists Unite members are young mothers who are passionate about protecting children from medically unnecessary circumcision. Cote protested Dr. Puranik’s office on Monday and Tuesday of last week and had the police called on her group.
Jewish law only requires circumcision for Jewish males, and has absolutely no such requirement for non-Jews.
Court records show a flurry of filings over the last month, including charges of custody violations on both sides and a request by the boy’s mother’s attorney to withdraw from the case.
The case has been going on for years. The boy’s parents – Dennis Nebus and Heather Hironimus – separated before their son was born. Their parenting contract places responsibility on the father for scheduling and paying for the boy’s circumcision and requires the mother to sign any required documents in a timely manner. Over time, the circumcision was forgotten, Chase remained intact, and his mother became passionate about protecting boys from circumcision.
The boy’s father raised the circumcision issue after his son was three years old, alleging medical problems. Pediatric urologist Dr. Charles W. Flack examined the boy and said the boy was healthy and circumcision wasn’t medically necessary.
When asked if he would circumcise his own son in a similar situation, Dr. Flack stated, “If he’s not having any problems, I wouldn’t want to bear that burden if, God forbid, something happened.”
Despite this testimony, Dr. Flack went on to tell the court he would be willing to circumcise the boy if both parents agreed and went on to praise the alleged benefits of circumcision, making him the target of a protest last January near his practice at Bethesda Health City in Boynton Beach, FL.
