Two north-central Idaho lawmakers have introduced a bill that would outlaw all genital mutilation of children.
White Bird Representative Priscilla Giddings on Thursday told the House Judiciary, Rules, and Administration Committee that while a federal law passed in 1996 outlaws female genital mutilation nationwide, it did not provide any enforcement mechanism.
Caroline Nilsson Troy
A federal judge in Michigan last year found that the federal law was unconstitutional, ruling that Congress did not have the authority to pass it. The court determined that it must be up to the states to regulate the practice. The judge’s decision voided the convictions of two Michigan doctors accused of mutilating several girls whose families were from a small sect of Shiite Muslims who enabled the ritual.
The proposed Idaho measure would make it a felony to commit the act in the Gem State.
Bill co-sponsor Representative Carolyn Nilsson Troy, of Genesee, says there are now 28 states with anti-female mutilation laws.
Giddings said the measure mimics the federal law but extends the statute of limitations to three years after the victim speaks to law enforcement, rather than three years after the act occurred.
The bill was unanimously moved forward to the House floor for a reading. (Idaho Statesman)
