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  • 2018-04-25 (xsd:date)
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  • Did Maine House Democrats Vote to Allow Female Genital Mutilation? (en)
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  • On 23 April 2018, the JihadWatch.org blog published an article reporting that Maine's House Democrats had voted to allow female genital mutilation (FGM) in that state. The article linked to blog post from a shaky source, and even that item diverged from the claim that politicians in Maine had opted to allow female genital mutilation, stating instead that the Maine State House passed a toothless amended bill banning the act: Performing FGM on minors in the United States has been illegal since 1996, with regulations stating that whoever knowingly circumcises, excises, or infibulates the whole or any part of the labia majora or labia minora or clitoris of another person who has not attained the age of 18 years shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. A February 2018 article on the legislative efforts in Maine regarding female genital mutilation reported that both Democrats and Republicans in the state opposed the practice, but that rival bills addressing FGM had been filed with the state's legislature. In essence, both parties put forth FGM legislation but disagreed on the details: Local reporting on the partisan dispute aligned with a June 2017 statement from Maine's American Civil Liberties Union positing that the Republican version of the bill was intended to target certain religious and ethnic communities: The state Senate now will have to decide whether to accept the House-passed version of the bill, or insist on sticking to the Senate-passed version (or reach some other form of agreement or compromise). Nonetheless, the claim that Maine Democrats voted to allow female genital mutilation is false, as both Democrats and Republicans in Maine advanced legislation specifying criminal penalties for the practice. The two sides voted along party lines on the different bills, with the version favored by Democrats being passed. Despite reports to the contrary, no part of the passed bill allows or legalizes female genital mutilation. (en)
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