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Faced with the prospect of being jailed indefinitely, a Florida mother today tearfully agreed to have her 4 1/2-year- old son circumcised.
Heather Hironimus made her decision after initially refusing to sign the consent. After Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Gillen made it clear her release was contingent on her signing the agreement, she met with her attorney, Thomas Hunker.
Roughly 15 minutes later, she notified Gillen of her change of heart. Court reconvened and she signed it.
She was again led from the court in shackles. She still faces a criminal charge of interfering with child custody. An arraignment, where bond would be set, has not been scheduled.
Attorneys representing the boy’s father, Dennis Nevis, declined comment. Gillen has imposed a gag order in the case.
During the hearing, they said the circumcision has not been scheduled. Due to what Nevis’ attorney May Cain described as death threats against her client from anti-circumcision activists, she said Nevis may have to take the boy out of state to get the procedure.
The boy has been with his father since Hironimus was arrested in Broward County last week where she had been hiding with her son.
During today’s hearing, Gillen gave Nevis unilateral powers on a temporary basis to make health care and other decisions for his son.
At a future hearing, the couple will hash out a new parenting agreement.
Gillen told the couple they would have to learn to get along.
“You are going to have to learn to deal with each other in a civil and amicable manner,” he said. “You will always be this little guy’s parents.”
Reaction to today’s developments from circumcision opponents was swift.
“The ‘consent’ signed by Heather Hironimus this morning is no more valid than that of a bound prisoner with the executioner’s knife to his throat who signs a form allowing his organs to be ‘donated’ after his death,” Georganne Chapman, executive director of Intact America, wrote in an email to the Post.
Fueled by social media, the bitter custody battle has attracted the attention of circumcision opponents throughout the globe. After telling a federal judge on Monday that the looming circumcision would violate the boy's constitutional rights, Hunker on Wednesday dropped the federal lawsuit aimed at preventing Nebus from having the boy circumcised.
The action, which Hunker said was done with Hironimus’ consent, angered many of her supporters, who had raised money for her legal defense.
As part of a paternity suit filed by Nebus, Hironimus in 2012 agreed to the circumcision. Relying on testimony from a doctor who said that circumcised males are less prone to health problems, Gillen ruled she was bound by the agreement.
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