The Boynton Beach, Florida case revolves around Heather Hironimus, the mother opposing circumcision, and Dennis Nebus, the father who wants his son, four-year-old Chase, circumcised. The couple was involved in a six-month relationship which resulted in Hironimus getting pregnant. At the time, the couple agreed to the baby boy being circumcised, but when time came for the procedure to be done, Hironimus changed her mind.
When the mother changed her mind, she cited, after researching the procedure, a number of reasons for not having her son circumcised. When the boy was a year old, his parents signed an agreement that allowed Chase’s father to go ahead with getting his son circumcised, with the father paying for the procedure in “a timely manner.”
The procedure was never done, and the battle over the boy’s foreskin continued on for another three years. The courts have ruled in the father’s favor, but one protester supposed the issue has been raised again “to spite the mother,” according to Jewish Business News. A Family Court judge again ruled in Nebus’ favor in May, 2014, and again, Hironimus fought the ruling and eventually lost in November 2014.
The child was then taken to a pediatric urologist in Boynton Beach who said the child was healthy and didn’t need a circumcision. However, the doctor testified in court that a circumcision did have health benefits, although he wouldn’t circumcise his own son because of the risks associated with surgery.
Now, the procedure has been scheduled for Tuesday, February 24. This has resulted in some last-minute legal maneuvers and a lot of protests, especially against the doctor scheduled to do the surgery, Dr. Subhash Puranik. The would-be surgeon has a practice in Plantation, FL, and protesters are targeting the doctor’s office.
Jenn Cote of Pembroke Pines, FL, is the co-director of South Florida Intactivists Unite and the organizer of the protest. She says, “I am protesting because I believe that Chase, as well as all boys, should have the right to make this decision for themselves.”
“Any doctor who can knowingly violate a child’s body by performing non-therapeutic surgery is a quack and deserves to lose his license,” says Colleen Cochran of Stuart, FL, member of South Florida Intactivists Unite. “Dr. Puranik has obviously lost sight of the most important tenet of medicine: First, do no harm.”
Unless something really earth-shattering comes to pass, it looks like the circumcision on little Chase will be done tomorrow. What do you think about circumcision, and is it really necessary today?
