San Francisco City Attorney's Office Says Narrow Circumcision Ban Would Be Unocnstitutional

As previously reported, a lawsuit was filed in state court in California last month by Jewish and Muslim families and two doctors attempting to prevent a proposed ban on circumcision from appearing on the November ballot in San Francisco. The lawsuit argues that the city ordinance would be pre-empted by state law that bans cities from regulating state-licensed physicians.  Now, responding to the lawsuit, the Office of the San Francisco City Attorney announced that it has filed a brief with the court contending that if the plaintiffs prevail, the resulting ordinance that would apply only to religious circumcisions performed by non-physicians will be unconstitutional. Chief Deputy City Attorney Therese Stewart said:

Especially in light of disturbing campaign materials that evoke the ugliest kind of anti-Semitic propaganda, the City has an obligation to petition the Court to remove the measure from the ballot in its entirety if it is preempted as applied to medical professionals. San Franciscans cannot be asked to vote on whether to prohibit religious minorities from engaging in a particular religious practice, when the same practice may be performed under non-religious auspices.