“No Account Shall Be Taken … of Any Belief … That the Operation Is Required as a Matter of Custom or Ritual”

In the discussions about the proposed circumcision bans, some people suggested that the provision that “[i]n applying [the medical necessity exception to the ban], no account shall be taken of the effect on the [child] of any belief on the part of [the child] or any other person that the operation is required as a matter of custom or ritual” was a sign of religious animus. I should have noted, for whatever it’s worth, that the provision comes from the federal ban on female genital mutilation, which likewise provides,

In applying subsection [the medical necessity exception to the female genital mutilation ban], no account shall be taken of the effect on the [child] is to be performed of any belief on the part of that person, or any other person, that the operation is required as a matter of custom or ritual.

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