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October 25, 2006
Father of the year
One of your typical domestic disputes was resolved in court a few days ago:
A Cook County judge has sided with a divorced father who did not want his 9-year-old son circumcised, in a case that has drawn attention from groups opposed to the medical procedure.
Circuit Judge Jordan Kaplan's ruling, issued Tuesday, said the boy can decide for himself when he turns 18. Until then, there will be no circumcision, a surgery that removes the foreskin of the penis.
The boy's parents had feuded over the procedure in court. The couple's 2003 divorce decree gave the father the right to offer advice on medical decisions. When the two disagreed, he sued to block the circumcision.
The father believed circumcision could cause the boy long-term physical and psychological harm. The child's mother wanted the procedure to prevent recurring infections.
Hmm, okay. I wonder what would cause more long-term psychological harm? Getting whacked, or having an argument about getting whacked all over the newspaper so that everyone you know can read it? Then, not only does it go to court, I imagine there was a trial wherein the judge heard evidence about this fellow's little fellow. That sounds pretty psychologically harmful to me.
But, what really strikes me as weird is that this whole dispute comes after the kid begged for help:
Alan Toback, the father's attorney, said the father is extremely happy with the judge's decision and feels he saved part of his son's anatomy.
A telephone call from The Associated Press to the mother's attorney on Tuesday was not immediately returned. The mother had testified that her son suffered five bouts of painful inflammation and had begged her to help him.
Posted by oz115 at October 25, 2006 04:31 PM