HARTFORD — Connecticut lawmakers are pushing for a new state law that bans female genital mutilation.
It follows a federal judge’s ruling last fall that found a national law protecting girls from the practice was unconstitutional.
The General Assembly’s Public Health Committee heard testimony Monday on one of several bills proposed this session barring the procedure known as female circumcision or cutting. Advocates say 28 states have passed enacted laws to combat it.
A bill was proposed last year to make the practice a class D felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. But it didn’t move beyond a committee vote.
Dorothy Cutter of Somers says she wants legislation with stiff penalties that prohibits transporting girls across the border to perform what she calls “child abuse at its worse.”
