(Detroit Free Press) Activists fighting to end female genital mutilation worldwide are reeling at the latest decision involving Detroit’s FGM case, in which a doctor is charged with cutting the genitals of nine 7-year-old girls who cried and bled as another woman held them down.
The historic case has had a series of setbacks.
First, a federal judge in Detroit declared the nation’s FGM law unconstitutional.
Then, the Department of Justice said it wouldn’t appeal, concluding the 1996 FGM statute was too weak to defend.
Congress tried to intervene and fight for the law, but got shot down.
On Friday, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a motion by congressional leaders to defend the constitutionality of the FGM ban. It also granted the government’s and the defendant’s request to voluntarily dismiss the case.
