Boston – A Massachusetts Bill now in the hands of the Joint Committee of the Judiciary seeks to ban all circumcision performed on anyone under the age of eighteen without their express consent, unless there is a compelling medical need to perform the procedure. The bill specifically bans circumcision for religious reasons. Should this bill pass, performing a circumcision on anyone under the age of eighteen without their consent would be punishable by a fine, imprisonment of up to fourteen years, or both.
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Charles A. Antonelli, a Delivery Compliance Administrator for IBM Global Services in Boston, began his quest to ban circumcision in minors in February 2006, submitting a bill to the Massachusetts General Court. The Joint Committee on the Judiciary will hold a public hearing on the bill on March 2, 2010 at the Massachusetts State House.
State Senator Michael Morrissey who’s name appears on the bill released the following statement to VIN News saying, “In Massachusetts, it is the state law that any resident may file a bill through his local representative or senator. My name is not on the bill, it is filed “by request” on behalf of the constituent. “If I agreed with the bill, I would have sponsored it. This constituent has filed this bill several times in the past, and it has never made it out of committee. While I do not support the bill, I respect his right to file it.”
This will never pass. However, I will say that I must respect this legislator for respecting the rights of his constituents to put proposals before the legislature even when it may appear on the surface that he is endorsing something he is not. It shows he respects the will of the people… even if this bill is a joke that will never see the light of day.
Are the Jews and Moslems going to go out of state to give birth?? Then circumcise then children out of state according to their religious law?? What is going on ???????
what do you expect from those Liberal sickos in MA
i beleive that this bill is unconstitutional and even if it would pass in MA it’ll be overturned by the US Supreme court
And just yesterday the press was reporting that circumcision reduces the risk of AIDS transmission by 60%. He should pass a bill making it required!
Silly bills get submitted all the time. If this would become law, it would immediately struck down as an unconstitutional restriction on religion. Everyone knows this and that’s why the bill has never made it out of comittee. This is a non-story.
While it sounds frightening this will never pass, so please let’s just be realistic w/o dramitizing it…..
Typical liberal democratic state. Don’t all of you see that the entire Democratic party is NUTS!!!
No big deal. Just some idiot. Make sure u read the end of this story before u make any judgments
If this Bill Passes, the “bostoner” rebbe will become the “Portlander” rebbe; it would not be good policy for the state to pass this bill since many jews would be inconvenienced by having to take their newborns to Connecicut or New Hampshire for millah. In the winter, it would be a real burden.
Shebcol dor vedor omdim olenu lechalosanu. This nothing new, for thusands of years now we are subject to religious intolerance.
I have a strong feeling that this Charles Antonelli has a very different view when it comes to abortion.
All of this no-circ narishkeit comes from our friends on the left.
clearly an anti-semite – this is the most ludacrist piece of legislation I have ever heard of – what about seperation of church and state. I hope it will never pass – but if it did I bet you would find a lot of Jews leaving the state! Which might be exactly what this guy wants. Alternative have a bris in another state! and keep annoying this anti-semite.
No big deal, just a meshuganeh antisemite…
Hopefully, such a bill will never get through again; as it has been pushed a number of times before, per the above statement by Sen. Morrissey. But, this is scary, showing you what leftists are all about. Massachusetts is a very leftist State but luckily, they just voted in a Republican (moderate) and, hopefully, that will be a good indicator of how the majority is more moderate. When shechita or circumcision starts being opposed, it’s not a good sign.
what’s his reasoning? what’s wrong with circumcision?
maybe next proposition will be you may not pierce your daughter’s ears
For a non-believer this is not such an outrage, and definitely very sound arguments. It’s a concern for us, but I can still respect where he is coming from.
The medical necessity of “bris” is not a strong argument (as is the case whenever you try to “explain” a mitzvah). That being said, we (as a whole) have to extinguish all momentum of any type of ban against our mitzvoth. If we don’t make a mockery of the case and send him to mars they will be popping up all over until one catches.
So it looks like this bill is geared against Jews, since Muslim do circumcision at the age of 13 and can express consent, but since Jews perform it on the 8th day, new born can not express consent
Another nail in the coffin for American Jewery.
Just to reply to the Constitutionality of the bill: The bill, if it does pass will indeed be Constitutional. Freedom of Religion states that you have the right to practice your religion but up to a point. If your religion required you to do something dangerous such as chopping of a finger of a child or killing a child, the State can make a law forbidding it.
This is not the first time he’s shown up. He’s a Libertarian, not necessarily an anti-semite. He was involved in removing the law requiring helmets for motorcyclists in Mass, and I think that that idea and this are two sides of the same idee fixe. So don’t shriek “anti-semite” at every fall of a leaf. Libertarians may be wierd, but not more anti-semites than anyone else.
If this bill ever became the law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which I highly doubt, it would immediately be struck down in the Supreme Court based on seperation of church and state.
I know there are plenty of non Jews who have their babies circumsized. They do it while the baby is still in the hospital. I am not worried about this attempt to stop circumcism.
How about passing a federal law that a mohel has to have special license!! And constant trainings and they should be paid by the insurance.
It will never happen, they just wanna scare us jews from doing mitzvot.
OK Guys instead of ranting on a web site for those people who live in Mass go to the hearing (March 2, 2010 in Boston) and state why this is a bad idea! I give this bill a 99.5% chance of never getting past the committee stage, but they are having a hearing, so go show up. (Oh and if you do show up try not too look like a raving nut, wear a nice suit and be polite)
Charles A. Antonelli ? I bet the A stands for Amalek. This man is clearly fighting science. I just saw science news last week that reported circumcised males have a 60% less chance of catching AIDS and other cancers. This is the reason why all of Africa is getting circumcised.
Increased risk of HPV, Cervical Cancer, HIV and Thrush. Religious law aside, circumcision is a public health issue.
Some of you are ignorant and uneducated. While this particular bill shouldn’t be pass, it does bring this topic to the forum. There needs to be a reform when it comes to circumcision. This is a MEDICAL ISSUE. There should be a doctor present at every bris. There has been babies who were infected, and sadly, babies who did die from circumcision, and that could have been prevented since it deemed as a minor surgery. Imagine how parents who lost their baby from a bris feel? I guess they are forgotten because no one cares. Every Jewish life is important.
For comment 43, fighting “Amalek comment,” you do realize Muslims practice circumsion on their sons as well…. Go back to Yeshiva.
This isn’t an Anti- Semitic bill, because Muslims and Christians also practice this tradition set by Avrohom. It isn’t one against Jewery…. stop throwing the race card idiot.
Uhh, what about the First Amendment – this is discusting- another reason to not settle in Massachusetts
B’H it has come to this. hayom umer asay cach… mochar omer asay cach.
for the record, we celebrate Chanukka, because we were released from the Hellenist binds, that prohibited this same thing.
Don’t fool yourselves. The greeks never assured milah. No way. they did EXACTLY what is being proposed in MA. they called it child abuse – punishable by death. only permissible with consent, etc etc. For the record the greeks were a democracy in a sense, and the bill did not pass on the first reading. it took many years… but, it did make it.
we fool ourselves when we think that it cannot happen here. It can, it will, sooner or later. it may start with metziza, as it has already.
we need to be mosar nefesh on this.
The explination given at the end of the article helps me understand what the context is. It would be doubtful such a bill would ever become law because Parent have many rights over their children before they reach the age of majority. To prohibit religious behavior of any knind would require most likely mid-level constitutional scrutiny which lies between the government showing a rational basis for the law and compelling governmental iterest .
Such a law would not survive constitutional challenge.
no need to fret guys, the mans an imbecile. the law wont get passed
your an idiot!!!! you just wasted 4 years of your life working on this stupid bill.. what gives you the right to say what someone can do for religous reasons or not? If you dont agree with it, have a child and dont have him circumcised. It should be a requirement, you obviously dont relize the how unclean it is not to have it done, and on a side note, ask anywoman if they would want to be with someone that hasnt had it done….hmmmm maybe thats why you want this bill.. maybe you want everyone to be like you.
I was born in USSR, the circumcisions were prohibited there…..they were done secretelly, very rare too. Although my parents decided not to circumcise me at that time, at the age of 13 I asked my parents and performed the Brit-Milah (briss) in Jerusalem. I’m glad I did, and I will circumcise my son even if it means to take it out of state/country etc.
I know this bill will not pass, but still it shows you there are plenty of people now and will be there in the future, ready to take away traditions and twist the religions even further.
Youtube this guys name and a video comes up. Pay attention to the left side of his neck…I bet you there are few swastikas under that buttoned up shirt and a tattoo sticking out of it.
Mass is a perfect example of why we should be very careful of a govermant run health care. Who the hell are these people to tell us what we can and can’t do with our children. They are so concerned about the health of a infant and the pain it goes thru. Where is there concern for a embro still in the womb. That can be sucked out at any time. Our freedoms are under assult every day. We must be willing to rise up and fight them.
this is going to far. let us have our freedom and leave us the heck alone.
I’m not sure why people think this is a vioation of religious freedom. It protects the religious freedom of the individual to choose whether or not he wants to cut off part of his own sexual organ to show his commitment to the religion he is free to choose. It PROTECTS religious freedom!
As a Jew, I’m frankly disappointed to see many of the commenters resort to cries of “anti-semitism.” Is it that difficult to debate this issue on it’s true merits, rather than resort to name-calling and accusations?
For what it’s worth, if there is ANY risk that the procedure removes erogenous tissue, I don’t think think it should be performed in hospitals, or endorsed by doctors. If, as a matter of religious requirement, one feels compelled to have the procedure performed on their children, they would still be able to go to a mohel.
has anyone checked the facts///the bill fro who this is filed on the behalf of is not a Massachusetts resident …but lives in New your City