Battle over Florida boy’s circumcision enters federal court
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. » The case of a Florida woman who fled to avoid her son’s circumcision is entering a federal courtroom for the first time.
Thirty-one-year-old Heather Hironimus was arrested Thursday in the long-running dispute over the removal of her 4-year-old child’s foreskin. She went missing with the boy nearly three months ago and ignored a judge’s warnings that if she didn’t appear in court and give consent for the circumcision to proceed, she faced jail.
The case originated in state courts but will be heard in a federal courtroom Monday in West Palm Beach. An attorney for Hironimus filed a federal civil rights complaint as legal options faded.
A judge is due to hear a motion asking for a restraining order against the boy’s father to keep the surgery from happening.