The quote from Boldt rather strikingly focuses on how forcing a 12-year-old to be circumcised is bad for the 12-year-old because it "could seriously affect the relationship between [him] and father." Is that really all there is to it? Might it not also be bad because a 12-year-old shouldn't be forced to lose a part of his body that he doesn't want to lose, at least absent some pretty significant medical reason?
More broadly, say that the issue arose not in a child custody case, but within an intact family. Should the law allow parents to circumcise their 12-year-old son against his expressed will -- as opposed to circumcising an infant who can't express a will? Or should that be seen as child abuse, with possible criminal or civil liability for the parents or the mohel? Eugene Eric Rassbach writes: > I would add to Chip's point that almost all of these cases would arise in > state > court rather than federal court since they would for the most part deal with > domestic relations issues or state law tort claims. > > See for example, In re Marriage of Boldt, 344 Or. 1, 176 P.3d 388 (Ore. 2008): > > > Although the parties and amici have presented extensive material regarding > circumcision, we do not need to *12 decide in this case **394 which side has > presented a more persuasive case regarding the medical risks or benefits of > male circumcision. We conclude that, although circumcision is an invasive > medical procedure that results in permanent physical alteration of a body > part and has attendant medical risks, the decision to have a male child > circumcised for medical or religious reasons is one that is commonly and > historically made by parents in the United States. We also conclude that the > decision to circumcise a male child is one that generally falls within a > custodial > parent's authority, unfettered by a noncustodial parent's concerns or > beliefs-medical, religious or otherwise. Were mother's concerns or beliefs > regarding circumcision all that were asserted in the affidavits in this case, > we > would conclude that mother did not carry her initial statutory burden to > demonstrate a sufficient change in circumstances demonstrating father's > inability to properly care for M. > > However, in this case, mother has averred in her affidavit that M objects to > the circumcision.FN8 In our view, at age 12, M's attitude regarding > circumcision, though not conclusive of the custody issue presented here, is a > fact necessary to the determination of whether mother has asserted a > colorable claim of a change of circumstances sufficient to warrant a hearing > concerning whether to change custody. That is so because forcing M at age > 12 to undergo the circumcision against his will could seriously affect the > relationship between M and father, and could have a pronounced effect on > father's capability to properly care for M. See Greisamer, 276 Or. at 400, 555 > P.2d 28 (illustrating proposition). Thus, if mother's assertions are verified > the > trial court would be entitled to reconsider custody. As to that inquiry, > however, we think that no decision should be made without some > assessment of M's true state of mind. That conclusion dictates the outcome > here. _______________________________________________ To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.