No child should be potentially harmed — brain damaged or killed — by someone performing oral suction at a bris (“As Bris Policy Nears, Mayor Seen In Bind,” Aug. 8).
The law says, for example, that a Jehovah’s Witness child should never be denied a potentially life-saving blood transfusion and a Christian Scientist may not refuse to give insulin to his or her diabetic child. There is ample legal precedent for curtailing some elements of a religion when a child’s life and health is at stake. As an outraged Jewish pediatrician, I feel that oral suction is an unnecessary part of a bris and must be outlawed. If it is true that Rabbi Yitzchok Fisher still performs oral suction after infecting four children, one of whom died, he should be prosecuted.
The New York Jewish Week brings you the stories behind the headlines, keeping you connected to Jewish life in New York. Help sustain the reporting you trust by donating today.
