Excerpt:
Calling the practice a "war on women," a female legislator wants to make what's been called "female circumcision" a state crime.
Sen. Judy Burges, R-Sun City West, said Arizona is increasingly becoming home to people from other countries where the practice is considered acceptable. But Burges said the practice — she calls it "female genital mutilation" in her legislation — has profound physical and psychological effects on women all their lives.
Her legislation would make a felon of anyone who not only performs the procedure on a girl younger than 18 but also anyone who tries to take a girl out of Arizona to have that done. SB 1342 would carry a presumptive prison term of seven years for a first offense and nearly 16 years for someone with two or more prior felony convictions.