Whatever you think about circumcision, it would seem that everyone can agree no one should be forced to have their child circumcised. So why is a judge threatening to through a Palm Beach area mother in jail if she doesn’t sign a consent form for her son to be circumcised?
Circuit Judge Jeffrey Dana Gillen said on Friday that Heather Hironimus is now under court orders to sign off on her 4-year-old being circumcised. If she refuses, Gillen said, she will be jailed.
Right now, Hironimus is officially in contempt of court. The judge says it is because she violated a 2012 parenting plan wherein she agreed with the boy’s father to have their son circumcised. But later she changed her mind and said she doesn’t believe the boy should be circumcised.
The boy’s father, Dennis Nebus, of Boca Raton, testified that Heather Hironimus has taken off with his son. But her lawyer says she has until 2 p.m. Tuesday to appear in court. After that the judge will sign a warrant for her arrest.
So it sounds like she is really in trouble for running off with the child, right?
Well, it might sound that way, but the judge said clearly, “I will allow her to avoid incarceration or get out of jail if she signs the consent to the procedure.”
An emergency motion was filed to vacate the order as unconstitutional, but a second circuit judge, Moses Baker Jr., denied that motion, saying that this wasn’t a “[matter] of life and death or [an instance] of irreparable harm.”
Now here’s where the case gets a little more complicated…
The circumcision in this case is not being done for religious reasons, interestingly enough. The boys father said that the decision was made after the boy was having certain urinary problems, a condition which a pediatrician diagnosed as phimosis. This condition prevents the retraction of the foreskin. The result was the boy urinating all over himself.
Watch the local report below and weigh in on what you think…
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