Circumcision Ban On November Ballot

Anti-circumcision activists culled well over the 7,168 signatures needed to get a ban on circumcision on the November ballot. Pro or con, the issue should garner nationwide media attention over the next few months. "Only in San Francisco," winks City Insider's Heather Knight, who goes on to report: "Department of Elections officials today certified that the fellows who call themselves 'intactivists' did indeed persuade enough city voters to sign their petition making circumcision on anybody under 18 a misdemeanor, even for religious reasons. It would be punishable by a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail."

Circumcision, which some define as male genitalia mutilation, is regularly practiced in certain religions and other parts of the world. (Other parts of the world like, say, a certain hospital in Laguna Beach where, many years ago, doctors snipped a certain newborn SFist editor's foreskin sans his mother's or father's explicit permission. Or so his parents alleged. Not that we're still bitter. Not much, anyway.)

As the Examiner points out, "Opponents have blasted the measure for being a violation of religious freedoms." For more details, check out the initiative via PDF form.