About the bill
Should female genital mutilation be illegal under federal law? It had been until last December.
Context
A 1996 law criminalized female genital mutilation for any girl under age 18. Two exceptions had been granted under the law: genital mutilation done out of medical necessity, and if a girl is in labor or has just given birth.
But in December 2018, Michigan federal judge Bernard Friedman ruled the law unconstitutional, saying Congress did not have the power to make such a national law and it was the proper domain of states. The case came after a Livonia, Michigan physician named Dr. Jumana Nagarwala performed female genital mutilation in violation of the 1996 law.
President Trump’s Solicitor General Noel Francisco, essentially the person responsible for arguing the federal government’s position in …
Sponsor and status
116th Congress (2019–2021)
This bill was introduced on June 27, 2019, in a previous session of Congress, but it did not receive a vote.
Although this bill was not enacted, its provisions could have become law by being included in another bill. It is common for legislative text to be introduced concurrently in multiple bills (called companion bills), re-introduced in subsequent sessions of Congress in new bills, or added to larger bills (sometimes called omnibus bills).
5 Cosponsors (5 Republicans)
Position statements
What legislators are saying
“Norton Releases Long List of Bills She Stopped This Congress That Sought to Block D.C. Laws and Policies”
—
Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton [D-DC]
on Oct 16, 2020
“Durbin Questions Indiana U.S. Attorney on Gun Trafficking During Confirmation Hearing”
—
Sen. Richard Durbin [D-IL]
on Nov 18, 2020
“Hoping to Vote for Coronavirus Relief Package”
—
Rep. Steve Cohen [D-TN9]
on Oct 23, 2020
History
|
Jun 27, 2019
|
|
Introduced
Bills and resolutions are referred to committees which debate the bill before possibly sending it on to the whole chamber. |
S. 2017 (116th) was a bill in the United States Congress.
A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law.
Bills numbers restart every two years. That means there are other bills with the number S. 2017. This is the one from the 116th Congress.
This bill was introduced in the 116th Congress, which met from Jan 3, 2019 to Jan 3, 2021. Legislation not passed by the end of a Congress is cleared from the books.
How to cite this information.
We recommend the following MLA-formatted citation when using the information you see here in academic work:
“S. 2017 — 116th Congress: Federal Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act of 2019.” www.GovTrack.us. 2019. September 29, 2023 <https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/s2017>
- show another citation format:
- APA
- Blue Book
- Wikipedia Template
Where is this information from?
GovTrack automatically collects legislative information from a variety of governmental and non-governmental sources. This page is sourced primarily from Congress.gov, the official portal of the United States Congress. Congress.gov is generally updated one day after events occur, and so legislative activity shown here may be one day behind. Data via the congress project.
