Certain parts of the United States have seen recent political movements seeking to ban the practice of religious male circumcision. Although these movements have not been successful yet, multiple Western European governments have already taken actions to restrict religious male circumcision. This trend of circumcision restrictions will reach the United States in the near future, which raises questions about the implications for religious liberty. As male circumcision is a religious practice in both Jewish and Muslim faiths, restrictions and outright bans of circumcision will indeed create First and Fourteenth Amendment concerns, likely to be fought over in court. Questions of family, religion, and bodily rights are all raised in arguments over religious male circumcision, and legal scholars ought to consider these issues now before they are eventually raised in United States courtrooms.
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