The Female Genital Mutilation ruling is not what you think

A Reagan appointed Federal judge threw out charges against against a Doctor who is accused of mutilating girls so that they couldn't enjoy sex when they were older.

There is a quite understandable outcry from people who condemn the barbarous practice, common in some cultures, of removing or damaging female genitalia, called Female Genital Mutilation(FGM).  The intent is to prevent women from enjoying sex and as such is clearly something evil.

However the judge's ruling wasn't that people have a right to mutilate young girls only that because the practice is small and isolated in the US the Federal government can't make it illegal.  The judge specifically stated that the states can make FGM illegal.  Unfortunately in this case the state of Michigan, where the horrible acts occurred, didn't pass an anti-FGM law until after the events of the current case occurred.

Hence the judge did not rule that adults have the right to mutilate little girls.

Not being a lawyer, and hence prone to logic and common sense, it seems to me that FGM is a clear cut example of child abuse and easily prosecutable as such so it's unclear to me why the fact that the Federal government can't declare it to be illegal is a issue at all.

Also the judges reasoning is a bit odd in that we have the Federal government regulating pretty much every aspect of our lives so why FGM should be exempt is unclear.

However anytime a judge puts a limit on Federal power we should be happy for the simple reason that America's problem is not a lack of government but an excess of it.

The two things you should remember as you think about this case are that the judge didn't say that one has a right to mutilate small girls and that any limitation on Federal power is good.

Going forward we need to ask why FGM isn't classified as child abuse?  After all purposely hurting a child in order to reduce her functionality without that procedure providing any positive health result is obviously child abuse.  Given that parents have been sent to prison for not taking their sick child to the doctor for religious reasons it's unclear how deliberately hurting one's child under the guise of a cultural or religious belief can be legal.