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posted by martyb on Friday July 14 2017, @03:25PM   Printer-friendly
from the cut-it-out! dept.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/07/12/536863961/michigan-laws-will-increase-penalties-for-performing-female-genital-mutilation

New legislation signed into law by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder on Tuesday makes female genital mutilation a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. The laws apply both to doctors who conduct the procedure and parents who transport a child to undergo it. "Those who commit these horrendous crimes should be held accountable for their actions, and these bills stiffen the penalties for offenders while providing additional support to victims," Gov. Snyder said in a statement. "This legislation is an important step toward eliminating this despicable practice in Michigan while empowering victims to find healing and justice."

The governor also signed a bill allowing for a health professional's license or registration to be revoked if he or she is convicted of female genital mutilation.

Michigan is the 26th state to ban the practice; the state laws go into effect in October. The practice was banned in the United States in 1996, but Michigan's laws impose harsher penalties than the federal law. The package of bills comes amid the federal criminal trial of an emergency room doctor in Michigan, Jumana Nagarwala, charged with performing the procedure on multiple girls at a clinic in suburban Detroit. The Department of Justice says it believes the case is the first to be brought under the federal law. Another doctor and his wife are also charged in the case, the AP reports.


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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 14 2017, @03:39PM (21 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 14 2017, @03:39PM (#539159)

    Exactly. The American Academy of Pediatrics even recommends that female genital mutilation should be widely available as a harm reduction measure. (lol [nytimes.com]!) The AAP writes [aappublications.org]:

    The language to describe this spectrum of procedures is controversial. Some commentators prefer “female circumcision,” but others object that this term trivializes the procedure, falsely confers on it the respectability afforded to male circumcision in the West, or implies a medical context. The commonly used “female genital mutilation” is also problematic. Some forms of FGC are less extensive than the newborn male circumcision commonly performed in the West. In addition, “mutilation” is an inflammatory term that tends to foreclose communication and that fails to respect the experience of the many women who have had their genitals altered and who do not perceive themselves as “mutilated.” It is paradoxical to recommend “culturally sensitive counseling” while using culturally insensitive language. “Female genital cutting” is a neutral, descriptive term.

    Cultural sensitivity is imperative in these matters. Muslims deserve equal rights to violate the bodies of their children to religious freedom!

    An educational program about FGC requires, above all, sensitivity to the cultural background of the patient and her parents and an appreciation of the significance of this custom in their tradition.

    Clearly, education is the key, and educated, culturally sensitive people will be more accepting of this diversity.

    The most knowledgeable body of pediatricians in the world knows that all forms of ritual genital mutilation, both male and female, are $100,000,000 per year profit centers of unnecessary surgery respectable medical procedures.

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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 14 2017, @03:45PM (13 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 14 2017, @03:45PM (#539163)

    Meanwhile male circumcision is widely endorsed. I'm guess it's not as harmful in its long term effects based on popular opinion, but then again popular opinion is frequently wrong and I have no other basis by which to judge.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 14 2017, @03:50PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 14 2017, @03:50PM (#539168)

      Yep. If everybody else jumps off a cliff, I was always told to follow suit. If a doctor tells you to jump off a cliff, then it's a no-brainer. Throw yourself over the cliff! That many people and experts can't be wrong! lol

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by Wootery on Friday July 14 2017, @03:53PM

      by Wootery (2341) on Friday July 14 2017, @03:53PM (#539170)

      I have no other basis by which to judge

      Is a quick Google too much to ask?

    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Friday July 14 2017, @04:05PM (4 children)

      by Thexalon (636) on Friday July 14 2017, @04:05PM (#539175)

      There haven't been as many studies on it, but there's some evidence that it causes similar although not quite as drastic harms as female circumcision, such as reduction in sexual pleasure. Of course, the real reason it hasn't received the same kind of scrutiny is that it's something "our" people do rather than those weirdos from faraway places that talk funny.

      --
      The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 14 2017, @04:36PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 14 2017, @04:36PM (#539185)

        Don't be stupid. This is almost a partial abortion and must be punished as such.

        • (Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Friday July 14 2017, @05:02PM

          by tangomargarine (667) on Friday July 14 2017, @05:02PM (#539205)

          Which, FGM or circumcision?

          I don't buy your analogy.

          --
          "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by lgsoynews on Friday July 14 2017, @06:21PM

        by lgsoynews (1235) on Friday July 14 2017, @06:21PM (#539255)

        From what I've read, the result depends on people (and probably on how the circumcision is done).

        Some men who were operated as adults report a GAIN in pleasure, some a LOSS (and regret their decision).

        Those are individual testimonies, I don't know if there has been a serious study on the subject.

        Of course, the problem if that most are operated very young and don't have a comparison point, very convenient for the assholes who push for it being done on kids. (I have nothing against adult deciding to be operated if it's a personal choice)

      • (Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Friday July 14 2017, @09:13PM

        There haven't been as many studies on it, but there's some evidence that it causes similar although not quite as drastic harms as female circumcision, such as reduction in sexual pleasure.

        Please provide citations for this that don't come from the anti-circumcision crowd.

        Not saying it isn't true, but buying biased claims without confirming them isn't the best way to get at the truth.

        --
        No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
    • (Score: 4, Informative) by NewNic on Friday July 14 2017, @04:44PM (4 children)

      by NewNic (6420) on Friday July 14 2017, @04:44PM (#539191) Journal

      Meanwhile male circumcision is widely endorsed in the USA

      FTFY. Male circumcision is rare outside of Jewish communities in Europe.

      --
      lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 14 2017, @06:10PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 14 2017, @06:10PM (#539247)

        Jews are a tiny minority in Europe.

        ...in the decades since 1945, the Jewish population in Europe has continued to decline. In 1960, it was about 3.2 million; by 1991, it fell to 2 million, according to DellaPergola’s estimates. Now, there are about 1.4 million Jews in Europe – just 10% of the world’s Jewish population, and 0.2% of Europe’s total population.

        (source [pewresearch.org])

      • (Score: 2) by lgsoynews on Friday July 14 2017, @06:16PM (2 children)

        by lgsoynews (1235) on Friday July 14 2017, @06:16PM (#539250)

        Not that rare.

        I'm french (and not Jewish, my family is atheist). I'm lucky enough to have escaped the moronic doctors' scalpel, but my younger brother was circoncised -for no medical reason- as a baby. I think at the time those MORONS thought it was some hygienic measure, despite the fact that it's well, total B.S.

        So, about 40 years ago, it was done in France.

        • (Score: 1, Redundant) by MostCynical on Friday July 14 2017, @10:05PM

          by MostCynical (2589) on Friday July 14 2017, @10:05PM (#539368) Journal

          While some reasons are purely cultural, there are medical grounds for male circumcision.

          Male circumcision can help limit HIV transmission http://www.catie.ca/en/fact-sheets/prevention/penile-circumcision-reduce-risk-hiv-infection [catie.ca]
          And has been shown to have up 73% curative effect on the auto-immune disease BXO.

          --
          "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
        • (Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday July 14 2017, @11:34PM

          by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Friday July 14 2017, @11:34PM (#539400) Homepage

          Uh, what? I'm Murrican, and my totally non-homosexual observations throughout the years yield a best guess across all my definitely non-Jew friends and sports teammates of 95% circumcised. I am not and considered it in my adult years because foreskin is ugly as fuck. It reminds me of an elephant's trunk, or a housefly's proboscis. Only problem is that once it's gone, there's no getting it back (disregarding some bullshit phoney procedure which is nothing like the real thing).

          When I was bored and alone I used to play with it like it were chewing gum, rolling it up in a pencil or blousing it back inward on itself.

          There is some truth about it regarding matters of cleanliness, but it's like any other part of your body in that it's clean if you wash it regularly, unclean if you don't.

    • (Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Saturday July 15 2017, @07:02PM

      by Magic Oddball (3847) on Saturday July 15 2017, @07:02PM (#539622) Journal

      Meanwhile male circumcision is widely endorsed. I'm guess it's not as harmful in its long term effects based on popular opinion …

      Not popular opinion — fact. 'Circumcising' a female would involve just removing the small part of the clitoral hood that covers the tiny tip of the clitoris that's visible if the hood is retracted. Female Genital Mutilation is a whole other level of structural damage, as Wikipedia describes:

      "[It can] include removal of the clitoral hood and clitoral glans; removal of the inner labia; and removal of the inner and outer labia and closure of the vulva. In this last procedure, known as infibulation, a small hole is left for the passage of urine and menstrual fluid; the vagina is opened for intercourse and opened further for childbirth."

  • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday July 14 2017, @04:30PM (2 children)

    by bob_super (1357) on Friday July 14 2017, @04:30PM (#539181)

    > The most knowledgeable body of pediatricians in the world

    It would be really nice if most Americans stopped non-jokingly elevating anything the US does as "the best in the world". Thanks for one clear example.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 14 2017, @07:31PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 14 2017, @07:31PM (#539286)
      BRO!!! YOU HAVE TRIGGERED ME!!!
      • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday July 14 2017, @08:09PM

        by bob_super (1357) on Friday July 14 2017, @08:09PM (#539308)

        > best aircraft carrier [military-today.com]

        How high was the guy who wrote that ranking?
        I'll give the Ford Class a pass for not being quite ready, and the Elizabeth class is still so far out from being useful it should be near last...
        The Russian carrier is acknowledged to be in terrible shape, yet number 3 ? The Chinese one is pretty limited, yet number 4?

        If actually ranked by "deadliest" (and not to their own crew), it should be
        0: Ford (soon operational)
        1: Nimitz class
        2: Charles de Gaulle
        3: Sao Paulo
        (a-k-a the catapult-driven, 4th-gen planes equipped carriers)
        4-6: not quite sure how to rank the Italian vs the Indian vs the Chinese
        7: Russia
        8: UK, expected to climb once it get real planes
        9: Thailand.

  • (Score: 4, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Friday July 14 2017, @06:17PM

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Friday July 14 2017, @06:17PM (#539253) Journal

    Those links don't really say what you are claiming they say.

    The NYT piece is saying that maybe it should be OK to perform a less-harmful procedure if it means the victim doesn't get flown to Africa to have her entire clitoris removed in unsanitary conditions.

    The AAP is explicitly against FGM. From your link:

    The American Academy of Pediatrics believes that pediatricians and pediatric surgical specialists should be aware that this practice has life-threatening health risks for children and women. The American Academy of Pediatrics opposes all types of female genital cutting that pose risks of physical or psychological harm, counsels its members not to perform such procedures, recommends that its members actively seek to dissuade families from carrying out harmful forms of FGC, and urges its members to provide patients and their parents with compassionate education about the harms of FGC while remaining sensitive to the cultural and religious reasons that motivate parents to seek this procedure for their daughters.

    Your quote is from the section where they are defining the terms used in the paper.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Friday July 14 2017, @08:45PM (2 children)

    by Grishnakh (2831) on Friday July 14 2017, @08:45PM (#539322)

    I'm pretty liberal, but that stuff is a bunch of horseshit. It's mutilation, plain and simple: any time you perform a medically-unnecessary procedure, it's mutilation. Getting your ears or nose pierced is mutilation too, though it's so minor that it's not a big problem (and it's generally only done on adults). Why are they trying to discourage accurate language to avoid offending religious nuts?

    Same goes for male genital mutilation too: it's mutilation, and it's not necessary. Humans should not be physically altered before they're old enough to consent, unless there is a clear medical reason to do so.

    • (Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday July 14 2017, @11:36PM

      by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Friday July 14 2017, @11:36PM (#539401) Homepage

      " Why are they trying to discourage accurate language to avoid offending religious nuts? "

      Because they will mutilate your head off just like they mutilate genitals off. Also, feminist liberals think it's okay.

    • (Score: 2) by cafebabe on Saturday July 15 2017, @05:08PM

      by cafebabe (894) on Saturday July 15 2017, @05:08PM (#539582) Journal

      Humans should not be physically altered before they're old enough to consent, unless there is a clear medical reason to do so.

      That's best practice for intersex people and it should be best practice for everyone.

      --
      1702845791×2