New Hampshire State representative Keith Murphy (R-Hillsboro) is sponsoring a bill to stop Medicaid funding for circumcision in his state. Representative Murphy believes the practice is unethical.

Murphy is asking for people to attend the hearing to be held in about a month in Concord, NH to discuss the bill. Murphy is also asking people to write letters to the members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives Health, Human Services & Elder Affairs Committee (http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/committees/standingcommittees.aspx). Murphy told NHPR (http://nhpr.org/post/bill-would-cut-circumcisions-medicaid-payments): “To me there’s something fundamentally wrong about strapping a baby boy to a board and amputating perfectly healthy, normal tissue.”

ARC’s Legal Advisor Peter Adler will attend the hearing and will be speaking in support of the bill.

You can find a transcript of the NHPR interview below.


Bill Would Cut Circumcisions From Medicaid Payments

By Jack Rodolico
December 26, 2014

A bill proposed in the state legislature would end Medicaid payments for circumcisions.

The bill’s sponsor, state representative Keith Murphy of Bedford, describes the practice as unethical.

“To me there’s something fundamentally wrong about strapping a baby boy to a board and amputating perfectly healthy, normal tissue,” says Murphy.

Murphy adds trimming circumcisions from the state budget will save money, although how much will be determined by the legislature next year.

The American Academy of Pediatrics says the medical benefits of circumcisions outweigh the risks. Eighteen states deny Medicaid dollars for the procedure, including California, Maine and Florida.

Circumcisions are an important religious procedure for Muslims and Jews.