Heather Hironimus Released From Jail After Forced To Agree To Son’s Circumcision

After a judge made her sign an agreement to have her four-year-old son circumcised, Heather Hironimus has been released from jail. CTV News reports that the Florida woman had spent nine nights behind bars until Judge Jeffrey Gillen threatened her with indefinite jail time until she signed away permission to allow her four-year-old son to be circumcised. This decision has been met with shock by numerous people, including folks who represent activism agencies.

The Tampa Sun Times reports that Hironimus cried in court while signing paperwork that gave her child’s father the right to have him circumcised — a procedure that isn’t medically necessary. Activists have rallied behind Heather Hironimus in support of protecting her son’s right to stay intact. Intact America is among those activists, an entire organization dedicated to fighting against the widespread use of circumcision as a procedure used on children. Georganne Chapin is the executive director of Intact America, and she believes doctors would be put off on performing the surgery if they knew the circumstances — those circumstances being that she was pressured into signing by a Florida judge, who used her own freedom as leverage against her.

“If anyone finds out the circumstances under which she signed, a doctor would be insane to carry out that surgery.”

Support for Heather Hironimus has inspired advocates to reach out to doctors across the country to encourage them against performing the circumcision for Heather’s ex (the father of her four-year-old son).

The argument regarding whether or not children should be circumcised is a growing topic for social activists, who declare that this is an issue about consent — especially in modern society where proper hygiene is an ordinary practice (as opposed to historically). Hironimus has argued along with this concept, believing that her son has the right to choose whether he wants to be intact or not. On the other hand, the child’s father, Dennis Nebus, has declared that the circumcision is just “the normal thing to do.”

Do you think the mother was right to sign the consent for her son to be circumcised, or do you think she could have waited the decision out a little longer? It should be noted that Heather Hironimus had once agreed to the circumcision, but she later reportedly backtracked on the decision after her mind had changed about the procedure. No date is scheduled for the surgery, but supporters of the Florida mom intend on making it very difficult for Nebus.

[Photo: Palm Beach County mugshot]