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Gentlemen and the parents of baby boys in California, you are free to do as you wish with the penises in your purview when it comes to circumcision. Specifically, you will not be subject to a ban on the act of male circumcision, thanks to Governor Jerry Brown signing into law a bill that bans the bans on foreskin removal.
AB 768 came on the heels of ballot initiatives in both San Francisco and Santa Monica to ban circumcision on boys under the age of 18. In San Francisco, the initiative gained enough signatures to go before voters, but was withdrawn from the ballot in Santa Monica.
The bill to counter the San Francisco ballot measure was authored by local state assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Burbank), who said banning circumcision interfered with "personal, medical and religious freedom."
As made into law, AB 768 precludes "a city, county, or city and county ordinance, regulation, or administrative action from prohibiting or restricting the practice of male circumcision, or the exercise of a parent' s authority to have a child circumcised." Further, AB768 provides "that the Legislature finds and declares that the laws affecting male circumcision must have uniform application throughout the state."
Opponents of circumcision believe the practice is a form of "genital mutilation."
