Minnesota lawmaker plans fresh push against female genital mutilation

[TomSea]

[size=13pt]Minnesota lawmaker plans fresh push against female genital mutilation[/size]
By STEVE KARNOWSKI | Associated Press
PUBLISHED: November 26, 2018 at 2:08 pm | UPDATED: November 26, 2018 at 2:33 pm

A Minnesota lawmaker said Monday that she plans a fresh push next year to strengthen a state law against female genital mutilation in the wake of a judge’s declaration last week that a federal law against the practice is unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Bernhard Friedman, of Detroit, ruled last Tuesday that Congress lacks the authority to regulate the practice, but that states can do so under laws that criminalize sexual battery and abuse. The judge dismissed most criminal charges against a Michigan doctor accused of cutting nine girls from three states, including Minnesota.

Rep. Mary Franson, an Alexandria Republican, said Friedman’s ruling underscores the need for her bill, which passed the House 124-4 in 2017, but never got a vote or hearing in the Senate in the 2017 or 2018 sessions. The Michigan case was the impetus for her bill.

“I will never stop fighting for the safety of little girls, and will keep working to put an end to this barbaric practice and punish parents who subject their daughters to these horrors,” she said in a statement.

Read more at:  https://www.twincities.com/2018/11/26/lawmaker-plans-fresh-push-against-female-genital-mutilation/?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=tw-PioneerPress&utm_source=twitter.com

There was that discussion last week so here is a state strengthening their FGM laws.