Measure to Ban Circumcision Withdrawn

By Lookout Staff

June 7, 2011 -- A Santa Monica proposition to ban circumcision will not go on the ballot after its sponsor withdrew the measure Monday before any signatures had been gathered.

Jena Troutman said that her measure titled “Genital Cutting of Male Minors,” which has garnered international press since it was filed May 19, was being misrepresented as a religious, instead of a medical, issue.

Troutman also distanced herself from the comic book, Foreskin Man, written by one of the movement's leaders Matthew Hess, that was condemned as anti-Semitic Friday by the Anti-Defamation League. ("Anti-Defamation League Blasts Literature Opposing Circumcision as Anti-Semitic," June 7, 2011)

“It shouldn’t have been about religion in the first place,” Troutman told the Jewish Journal in an interview Monday. “Ninety-five percent of people aren’t doing it for religious reasons, and with everyone from the New York Times to Glenn Beck focusing on the religious issue, it’s closing Americans down to the conversation.”

Troutman, who submitted the proposed initiative to the City Clerk shortly after a nearly identical measure was qualified for the November ballot in San Francisco, told The Lookout that "there is no medical reason for cutting babies.

"A lot of states don’t even allow Medicaid to pay for circumcisions anymore," said Troutman, a lactation consultant and self-described children's advocate. "Why should you, as a taxpayer, be forced to pay for a medically unnecessary procedure?” ("Meet the Woman Who Wants to Outlaw Circumcision in Santa Monica," June 1, 2011)

Supporters, who call themselves “intactivists,” say that circumcision is both a physical and psychological trauma, and prevents men from “experiencing sex the way nature intended.” They claim the enormity of the surgery is comparable to female genital mutilation, and it should be outlawed for the same reasons.

The day the measure was filed, Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom told The Lookout that it raises red flags when it comes to religious rights and women's health. Not only is circumcision a sacred obligation for many members of the Jewish faith, but medical studies have shown that it reduces women's chances of contracting cervical cancer, he said. ("Initiative to Ban Circumcision Comes to Santa Monica," May 19, 2011)

Troutman would have needed to gather more than 7,000 signatures of registered voters within 180 days to make sure the initiative qualified for the November 2012 ballot. She said she planned to station herself outside libraries, grocery stores and schools until she has met her goal.

The bill would have mirrored a ballot initiative proposed in San Francisco, which has qualified for the November 2011 ballot there.

If approved, the municipal code would make it unlawful to “circumcise, excise, cut or mutilate… any part of the foreskin… of another person who has not attained the age of 18 years.” Penalties for violating the provisions could be a fine up to $1,000 and/or a year in county jail.