An Unkind Cut Or, Medical Progress

Egypt: All Female Cutting Banned

Egypt strengthened its ban on female genital cutting by eliminating a legal loophole that allowed girls to undergo the procedure, the Health Ministry said. The ministry’s step, which came after an 11-year-old girl died last week while undergoing the procedure at a private clinic, canceled a 1996 provision that had permitted the surgery “in situations of illness” should doctors advise it. Female genital cutting, also known as female circumcision, is performed on Muslim and Christian girls in Egypt. A 2005 Unicef report found that 97 percent of Egyptian women between 15 and 49 had had the procedure.