The deal scrapping the metzitzah b'peh (MBP, the direct mouth-to-bleeding penis sucking done by many haredi mohels after cutting off a baby's foreskin) informed consent requirement depends completely on haredim cooperating. There are apparently no penalties at all for haredi rabbis and others who fail to comply. MBP has killed hundreds if not thousands of children, and some of these deaths are actually documented in rabbinic sources.
Even more than all this, DNA matching of the HSV-1 virus is nearly impossible to do. The virus is very difficult to work with and there are many false negatives – meaning virus matches are under reported.
Unfortunately, in the corrupt political environment that is New York City and new York State, science doesn't matter – and neither do the lives of haredi babies.
And now New York City's Mayor Bill de Blasio has made good on his Satmar bloc vote for ending the informed consent deal made shortly before the 2013 election, caught on video and reported first by FailedMessiah.com.
Capital New York reports:
…In exchange for abandoning the consent forms, the coalition of rabbis negotiating with City Hall agreed that if a baby is diagnosed with HSV-1, the community would identify the mohel in question and ask him to undergo testing. If the mohel tests positive for HSV-1, the city's health department will test the DNA of the strain to see if it matches the infant's.
If it does, the mohel will be banned from performing the ritual for life.…
Related Posts:
A History Of MBP Disease Transmission.