General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1069
January Session, 2021 LCO No. 5531
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT CONCERNING FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
1 Section 1. (Effective October 1, 2021) (a) The Commissioner of Public
2 Health, in consultation with staff at The Women's Center at The
3 University of Connecticut Health Center, shall conduct a study of
4 female genital mutilation in this state and report the results of such
5 study in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general
6 statutes to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly
7 having cognizance of matters relating to the judiciary and public health
8 not later than February 1, 2021.
9 (b) As part of such study, the Commissioner of Public Health shall
10 identify any public health intervention that might result in the
11 elimination of any procedure conducted as part of the practice of female
12 genital mutilation by evaluating peer-reviewed medical literature
13 concerning the practice in the United States and other countries in which
14 women are affected by female genital mutilation. The study shall (1)
15 identify knowledge and training concerning communication, cultural
16 competence, clinical identification of female genital mutilation, clinical
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17 management practices and service configuration necessary to counsel
18 women affected by female genital mutilation, and (2) evaluate the effects
19 of banning female genital mutilation on women seeking reproductive
20 and maternal health services, including prenatal care.
21 (c) For purposes of this section, "female genital mutilation" means any
22 procedure involving partial or total removal of the external female
23 genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for nonmedical
24 reasons, including, but not limited to, piercing, cutting, removing or
25 sewing closed all or part of a girl's or woman's external genitalia.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2021 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To study and recommend ways to identify public health interventions
that might result in the elimination of any procedure conducted as part
of the practice of female genital mutilation.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]
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