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In what could be last ditch - or possibly a fruitless - effort to spare a 4 1/2-year-old Boynton Beach boy from being circumcised against his mother’s wishes, a Gainesville lawyer today sent a “cease and desist order” to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, demanding that doctors there not perform the operation.
The letter was posted on Facebook pages that support Heather Hironimus’ long-running efforts to stop the boy’s father, Dennis Nebus, from having their son circumcised.
The lawyer Daniel Vazquez, who is representing Hironimus, said he did not hear back from the hospital.
It is not known whether the surgery was performed today, as planned. Officials at the Hollywood hospital have refused to talk about the case, citing national privacy laws. On Wednesday, they issued a statement saying the boy was not a patient at the hospital in southern Broward County.
In the letter, Vazquez notifies the hospital that it could be subject of a civil lawsuit if it performs the procedure against both the boy’s and Hironimus’ wishes.
Repeating some of the claims raised in other lawsuits, Vazquez says the youngster doesn’t want the operation and that he is pre-disposed to medical complications, which makes the surgery risky. Vazquez also says performing the procedure without Hironimus’ consent would violate a parenting plan the couple signed after Nebus in 2010 filed a paternity lawsuit.
In an email to The Palm Beach Post, Vazquez said there are two important issues that need to be explored.
“First, whether a doctor should be performing non-religious, purely cosmetic surgery on a minor-child when the child objects,” he wrote. “Second, whether one physician at an otherwise well-respected hospital is potentially violating medical ethics by performing cosmetic surgery on a minor child under the unique facts of this situation.”
He declined further comment.
People who oppose circumcision throughout the world have followed the case and the social media world lit up with news of Vazquez’s efforts. “I’m so happy that I have tears, FINALLY!!!!” one woman wrote.
Litigation has punctuated the case. As recently as Monday, another lawyer representing Hironimus sought an emergency injunction in Palm Beach County Circuit Court to stop the surgery. Circuit Judge Jessica Tickin denied the motion.
Ticktin inherited the case from Circuit Judge Jeffrey Gillen. He ruled that Hironimus, 31, had to abide by her 2012 decision to allow the boy to be circumcised as long as Nebus, 47, of Boca Raton, paid for it. Gillen said it didn’t matter that she had changed her mind. His decision was upheld by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeal.
Hironimus then went into hiding with her son for two months. After her arrest in May, Gillen gave Nebus sole authority to make medical decisions for the boy. Hironimus faces a maximum 5-year prison sentence for interfering with child custody.
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