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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.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 14 2017, @03:45PM (13 children)
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
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
Is a quick Google too much to ask?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Friday July 14 2017, @04:05PM (4 children)
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)
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
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
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
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)
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
Jews are a tiny minority in Europe.
(source [pewresearch.org])
(Score: 2) by lgsoynews on Friday July 14 2017, @06:16PM (2 children)
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
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
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
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."