(Detroit News) The U.S. Senate this week approved bipartisan legislation to amend the federal law prohibiting female genital cutting.
The bill, which passed the House this fall, now heads to the president’s desk for his signature. The measure is in response to a 2018 federal court ruling in Michigan that deemed the statute unconstitutional.
Often abbreviated as FGM, female genital mutilation is the ritual removal, scraping or cauterizing of all or part of a girl’s genitals for non-medical reasons.
The bill is intended to clarify Congress’ authority to make it a crime for any parent, guardian or caretaker to facilitate or consent to the procedure on a minor, or for anyone to perform the procedure, or to transport a minor to undergo FGM.
