Patricia Schroeder: “today I and Representatives Collins of Michigan and Morella of Maryland are reintroducing a bill that would make it…”

“today I and Representatives Collins of Michigan and Morella of Maryland are reintroducing a bill that would make it illegal to mutilate women in the name of tradition. The practice is called female genital mutilation, a painful ritual that involves cutting off all or part of a female's genitalia. Over 100 million girls and women in the world have undergone some form of FGM, and I have received anecdotal reports that it is happening here. Our Federal Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act of 1995 would make practitioners of FGM subject to criminal penalties. And it establishes penalties for physicians who discriminate against women who have been subjected to FGM. It authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services to compile data on females living in this country who have been experienced FGM. HHS also would identify U.S. communities that practice FGM and educate them about its effects on physical and psychological health. Finally, the bill would instruct HHS to develop and disseminate recommendations for the education of students of schools of medicine and osteopathic medicine regarding FGM and its complications. These provisions would give doctors and social workers the information they need to treat the health needs of women who have undergone FGM and begin education to eradicate it in this country. FGM is not comparable to male circumcision, unless one considers circumcision amputation.…”