Boys Should Be Protected, as Girls Are

Article here. Excerpt:

'The recent court decision in Cologne that found ritual, medically unnecessary male circumcision to be a violation of the child's rights should not surprise scholars of American constitutional law. Two landmark cases have long held that U.S. law protects religious belief, but will not condone potentially harmful religious practice.

In 1878, in Reynolds v. U.S., the Supreme Court held that “laws are made for the government of actions, and while they cannot interfere with mere religious belief and opinions, they may with practices.”

Likewise, in 1944 in Prince v Massachusetts, the justices ruled: “The right to practice religion freely does not include liberty to expose the … child to ill health or death. … Parents may be free to become martyrs themselves. But they may not make martyrs of their children before they have reached the age of full and legal discretion when they can make that choice for themselves.”'