After an investigation of Minnesota Muslims practicing FGM led to the exposure of an FGM Muslim network in Michigan that had been operating for a disturbingly long time, there's a renewed effort to crack down on the brutal rite.
The debate pits FGM victims against Somali Muslim settlers in Minnesota.
Opposition from some members of Minnesota’s immigrant and refugee communities is slowing the momentum of a bill that would impose stiff penalties for parents involved in cases of female genital mutilation.
Since the bill’s near-unanimous passage in the Minnesota House this week, some longtime critics of the ritual have met with senators, lobbied the governor’s office and handed out fliers — all to raise alarm about the legislation.
Pair that with the lawyers for the Islamic monsters using the religious freedom defense and the next phase of the debate about Sharia is here. The defenses are very telling.
The Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage, a nonprofit called Isuroon and other groups argue that the legislation carries overly harsh punishment and unintended consequences, including the possibility that newcomers from countries where genital cutting is widespread would not seek medical care and other services for their children.
This is the same argument being used for illegal aliens.
And if you really care about the kids, you'll let their Somali parents mutilate them in peace.
Now, the author of the Senate version is voicing second thoughts about approving the legislation yet this session, though Senate GOP leadership have not committed to a course of action. “We all agree this practice is absolutely horrible, and something needs to be done,” said the author, Sen. Karin Housley. “How can we empower communities to address this practice from within rather than having Big Brother come down and say, ‘This is wrong?’ ”
Sharia courts, Fatwas, CVE, obviously. You work with the perpetrators and empower them to impose Islamic law.
Rep. Mary Franson, who introduced the House bill, said the Senate is bowing to pressure from groups “more concerned with perception than doing the right thing and protecting girls.”
“Watering down the bill really does a disservice to the little girls who are in danger,” she said.
Franson’s bill makes it a felony for parents to subject their daughters to the procedure and calls for loss of custody and prison terms from five to 20 years, depending on the extent of the injuries.
On one side are the victims. On the other, the appeasers.
Fadumo Abdinur, one of several Somali-American women who testified in favor of the bill, said stiff penalties are needed to root out a practice that leaves girls and women with long-term health problems. Abdinur, who experienced genital cutting, did not get her period until she was 20, and only after a Texas physician partly reversed her procedure. She also suffered painful periods and intercourse.
“I don’t want any girl to go through this,” she said. “I will talk against it for the rest of my life.”
Lul Hersi, a St. Cloud mother of four and a supporter of the bill, says the United States should warn refugee parents against rushing to have their daughters cut before traveling to the United States — and disqualify them from resettlement if they do: “The parents know the risks they’re putting their kids in.”
And now let's hear from the other side.
Fartun Weli of Isuroon, which won a $180,000 federal grant this winter to educate health care providers about the procedure, stresses that she does not condone the practice.
But she and other critics balk at separating girls from their families, which they argue victimizes them a second time. They say they worry about families arriving from places where the practice is deeply rooted. An amendment to Franson’s bill states the penalties apply only if the ritual is practiced in the United States.
That Federal grant really needs reviewing, doesn't it.
Hodan Hassan, a mental health clinician, also argues for a less punitive approach.
“When I read the bill, my heart sank,” Hassan said. “It criminalizes parents who don’t understand the legality of their actions and don’t have the ability to advocate for themselves.”
As always, it's about making the Islamic perpetrators into the victims.