The de Blasio administration is repealing a regulation ordering those who perform the Jewish rite of circumcision to obtain signed permission from parents before orally removing blood from an infant during the procedure.
The Department of Health announced Tuesday it will eliminate a policy enacted in 2012 requiring that the men — called mohels — get signed releases before performing the ancient ritual.
The Bloomberg administration required the consents after several outbreaks of herpes in the Orthodox community.
But health officials said that they had received only one consent form from a mohel since the policy began, and feared that further regulation would drive the practice underground.
Officials said they would instead ramp up health tests on mohels with the Orthodox community’s support.
If a mohel tests positive for herpes, and DNA tests show he infected a baby during the ritual, the city will ban him from practice.
The agreement is part of a settlement the city reached with a council of Orthodox rabbis who sued the city over regulations on the practice, known as Metzitzah B’peh.
City Councilman David Greenfield (D-Brooklyn), who represents Orthodox Jewish communities, called the agreement a “big win for religious freedom in New York.”
After Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s administration called for the signing of consent forms, the city’s mohels insisted they apply strict medical procedures, including testing for herpes, sterilizing their hands and rinsing with mouthwash before the ceremony.
The mohels are believed to perform more than 3,000 rites annually.
Rabbi A. Romi Cohn, who has performed 35,000 circumcisions, said he believes babies could have contracted the herpes virus from sources other than mohels.
Officials said the new agreement fulfills the mayor’s commitment to find a more effective policy that protects children and religious rights.
With Post Wire Services