Michigan Senate votes to outlaw female genital mutilation

Reuters ------ The Michigan Senate approved legislation on Wednesday making genital mutilation of girls a state felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison, both for doctors who perform the procedure and parents who transport a child to undergo the surgery. The legislation, which now goes to the state House of Representatives, was spurred by the case of an emergency room physician charged last month under federal law with performing genital mutilation on two 7-year-old girls at a suburban Detroit medical clinic. Another doctor and his wife who ran the clinic also have been charged in that case, believed to mark the first U.S. criminal prosecution of its kind. The three defendants could face prison terms of up to five years if convicted. To learn more click on the picture below to read the article.