May 22, 2015
File Art /for PhillyVoice
Mother loses legal battle to keep son from being circumcised.
A Florida mother consented on Friday to allowing her 4-year-old son to be circumcised, ending a legal battle with the child's father, according to media reports.
Heather Hironimus, 31, was jailed for a week after hiding out with the child for months after a protracted court fight to block the circumcision, the Sun-Sentinel newspaper reported.
Crying in a state courtroom in Palm Beach County, Florida, she consented to the procedure shortly after a judge ordered her to remain jailed until signing off on it, the newspaper reported.
She still faces a charge of interference with child custody, according to the Palm Beach Post.
A lawyer for the child's father, Dennis Nubus, said a date for the circumcision had not been scheduled, the Post reported.
The procedure may take place out of state, as Nubus has received death threats from anti-circumcision activists, the Post reported.
Circumcision is a medical procedure in which skin covering the tip of the penis is removed. While the procedure is part of some religious customs, religion did not motivate the parental dispute, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
Courts have upheld a 2012 parenting agreement signed by Hironimus, 31, that allowed for the circumcision, the Sun-Sentinel and Palm Beach Post reported.
An attorney for Hironimus could not immediately be reached for comment.
