Can Circumcision be Made Illegal?

The debate over circumcision has spread to Colorado, where two lawmakers are seeking to reinstate Medicaid funding for the procedure after it was cut last year.

The proposal, which is snaking its way through the state legislature, has sparked a broader conversation about circumcision in Colorado and beyond, with Jews on both sides of the issue.

“From my perspective, it is a social justice issue,” said Democratic Denver Senator Joyce Foster, who is co-sponsoring the bill with Senator Irene Aguilar. Foster is married to Steve Foster, rabbi emeritus at Temple Emmanuel, Denver’s largest Reform synagogue. “We will be denying people who are on Medicaid the choice,” she continued. “If they want to have their sons circumcised, they should be able to.”