Women and girls in Washington who come here from certain other countries are at risk of female genital mutilation, a heinous practice that involves removing outer genitalia as a marriage ritual, it can cause lasting physical and emotional damage or it can even be fatal.

More than 168,000 women in the US are at risk of undergoing this barbaric ritual, HB 1423 has been written to end this practice in our beautiful state; it would make it a Class B felony, classify it as child abuse and set up tracking and reporting requirements.

Roger Goodman, chair of the Public Safety Committee, has refused to schedule HB 1423 for a hearing; it must be scheduled by Friday, Feb. 20 or this important protection will not be available in Washington.

Please call Mr. Goodman’s office and ask him to schedule a hearing, let him know that Washington cares about women: 360-786-7878, roger.goodman@leg.wa.gov. Let’s all take a stand to protect those who can’t protect themselves.

Thank you.

Jeanie McCombs, Kirkland