A proposed circumcision ban will not appear on San Francisco’s citywide ballot in November, a Superior Court judge tentatively ruled Thursday.
Judge Loretta Giorgi has determined that as “a widely practiced medical procedure,” circumcision cannot be banned by the city, since California law forbids municipalities from regulating medical procedures allowed by the state. A judge on Thursday struck a controversial ban proposal from November’s ballot, saying the proposed law would violate both constitutional freedoms and California law that makes regulating medical procedures a function of the state, not cities. (29 July 2011)