Health authorities in New York City sparked anger among some Ultra-Orthodox Jews last week by banning two mohalim from carrying out part of a circumcision rite. The mohalim are suspected of giving herpes to two infants during a ritual known as Metzitzah b'peh. The practice involves sucking the blood from the wound of a newly circumcised boy and is popular among Ultra-Orthodox Jews who see it as doctrinal.

The idea behind the ritual is, or at least was, to some extent quite logical; the mohel's saliva was used to clot the wound and stop bleeding and in a world without gauze, Elastoplast and a basic knowledge of how disease was transmitted, aka centuries ago, it probably made perfect sense.

It clearly no longer does and authorities in New York are indirectly trying to put a stop to the practice. Mohalim are now legally required to get a signed consent form from parents giving them permission to use their mouth to suction blood from the wound.

The consent form informs parents that the health department believes Metzitzah b'peh “should not be performed because it exposes an infant to the risk of transmission of [herpes] infection, which may result in brain damage or death.”

According to the same department, sixteen babies have contracted herpes since 2000 because of the practice. Of those, two have died and two have been brain damaged.

Remarkably, some of the parents within the communities have been reluctant to give the names of the mohalim who carried out the practice and in most cases the holy man remains unidentified.

Several groups have argued that health authorities are interfering with their freedom of religion and in an interview on the matter for ABC one Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man shrugged his shoulders with a smile and said: “we'll keep on doing it because that's what it says in our religion and that's what we should do.”

Every religion has them; doctrinal traditions and rulings that grow out of either practical problems, delusional whims and/or patriarchy. These 'traditions' become so strong and so much a fabric of the religion that people forget why they were initially put in place. They are therefore held onto, even when it becomes obvious that they are either outdated, unjust or as in this case no longer necessary and/or downright dangerous.

In Maharashtra in India babies and toddlers are thrown from a 50 foot tower, caught in bed sheets and passed back to their mothers all in the name of a religious tradition that is believed to bring luck. Jehovah's Witnesses refuse blood transfusions because “both the Old and New Testaments clearly command us to abstain from blood.” And how many unwanted pregnancies, births and abortions have there been due to Catholic teachings on condoms?

These traditions when applied to adults might be acceptable. If people are stupid enough to believe that these edicts and traditions benefit them or help them find favour with some being in this life or some imagined afterlife  then let them jump off buildings or die because they are losing blood. Why not let a bearded man with a funny hat lick the wound on your penis?

But to foist this craziness on children is child abuse and nothing else.

In the USA The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act defines child abuse as an “act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm...or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm”.

Does Metzitzah b'peh not present an imminent risk of serious harm?

Around the World with Jonathan deBurca Butler every Monday from 3pm on Moncrieff. You can follow Jonathan  on Twitter here: @deburcabutler.