House Bill 1550

AN ACT TO CREATE "THE ANTI-GENITAL MUTILATION OF FEMALES ACT"; TO PROHIBIT THE GENITAL MUTILATION OF FEMALES UNDER THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN; TO PROVIDE PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF THIS ACT; TO AUTHORIZE A VICTIM TO BRING CIVIL ACTION FOR VIOLATION OF THIS ACT; TO REQUIRE THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO DEVELOP A COMMUNITY EDUCATION PROGRAM REGARDING FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION; TO AMEND SECTIONS 15-1-35 AND 15-1-36, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS PROVISIONS FOR VIOLATIONS OF THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Anti-Genital Mutilation of Females Act."

SECTION 2. The following words shall have the following meanings, unless the context indicates otherwise:

          (a) "Genital mutilation" means any procedure that involves partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or any harmful procedure to the female genitalia, including:
              (i) A clitoridectomy;
              (ii) The partial or total removal of the clitoris or the prepuce;
              (iii) The excision or the partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora;
              (iv) Infibulation or the narrowing of the vaginal orifice with the creation of a covering seal by cutting and appositioning the labia minora or the labia majora, with or without excision of the clitoris;
              (v) Pricking, piercing, incising, or scraping, and cauterizing the genital area; or
              (vi) Any other actions intended to alter the structure or function of the female genitalia for non-medical reasons.

(b) "Health care provider" means an individual licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized or permitted by law to provide health care in the ordinary course of business.

SECTION 3. (1) A person who: (a) performs genital mutilation on a female under eighteen (18) years of age; (b) gives permission to conduct or allows genital mutilation to be performed on a female under eighteen (18) years of age; or (c) transports or causes, permits, or facilitates the transport of a female under eighteen (18) years of age from this state for the purpose of facilitating the performance of a genital mutilation shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be sentenced to no less than ten (10) years in the Department of Corrections, and fined no less than Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00).

(2) Any health care provider who is convicted of genital mutilation shall have his or her license to practice in this state revoked and/or be denied approval for any license to practice in this state.

(3) It shall not be a defense to a violation of this act that the prohibited conduct is required as a matter of religion, custom, ritual, or standard practice, that consent was obtained from the person on whom the act of mutilation was performed or that consent was obtained from such person's parent or guardian.

     SECTION 4. A surgical procedure is not a violation of this act if the procedure is performed by a physician licensed in this state and is:
          (a) Medically advisable to preserve or protect the physical health of the person on whom it is performed, and such need is written in the person's records with a detailed explanation; or
          (b) Performed as a result of a request for sex reassignment surgery by the person on whom it is performed.
     SECTION 5. (1) The State Department of Health shall develop a community education program regarding female genital mutilation.
     (2) The program shall include:
          (a) Education, prevention, and outreach materials regarding the health risks and emotional trauma inflicted by the practice of female genital mutilation;

(b) Ways to develop and disseminate information regarding recognizing the risk factors associated with female genital mutilation; and
(c) Training materials for law enforcement, teachers, and others who are mandated reporters under Section 43-21-353, which include:

              (i) Risk factors associated with female genital mutilation;
              (ii) Signs that a female may be a victim of genital mutilation;
              (iii) Best practices for responses to victims of female genital mutilation; and
              (iv) The criminal penalties associated with the facilitation or commission of female genital mutilation.
     SECTION 6. (1) A victim of female genital mutilation may bring a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction for violation of this act within ten (10) years after: (a) the procedure was performed; or (b) the victim's eighteenth birthday, whichever is later.

     (2) The court may award actual, compensatory, and punitive damages, and any other appropriate relief.
     (3) A prevailing plaintiff shall be awarded attorney fees and costs.
     (4) Treble damages may be awarded if the plaintiff proves the defendant's acts were willful and malicious.
     SECTION 7. Section 15-1-35, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

15-1-35. All actions for assault, assault and battery, maiming, false imprisonment, malicious arrest, or menace, and all actions for slanderous words concerning the person or title, for failure to employ, and for libels, shall be commenced within one (1) year next after the cause of such action accrued, and not after, except that any action based on a violation of this act shall be commenced within the time prescribed by this act.

SECTION 8. Section 15-1-36, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

15-1-36. (1) For any claim accruing on or before June 30, 1998, and except as otherwise provided in this section, no claim in tort may be brought against a licensed physician, osteopath, dentist, hospital, institution for the aged or infirm, nurse, pharmacist, podiatrist, optometrist or chiropractor for injuries or wrongful death arising out of the course of medical, surgical or other professional services unless it is filed within two (2) years from the date the alleged act, omission or neglect shall or with reasonable diligence might have been first known or discovered.

(2) For any claim accruing on or after July 1, 1998, and except as otherwise provided in this section, no claim in tort may be brought against a licensed physician, osteopath, dentist, hospital, institution for the aged or infirm, nurse, pharmacist, podiatrist, optometrist or chiropractor for injuries or wrongful death arising out of the course of medical, surgical or other professional services unless it is filed within two (2) years from the date the alleged act, omission or neglect shall or with reasonable diligence might have been first known or discovered, and, except as described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection, in no event more than seven (7) years after the alleged act, omission or neglect occurred:

(a) In the event a foreign object introduced during a surgical or medical procedure has been left in a patient's body, the cause of action shall be deemed to have first accrued at, and not before, the time at which the foreign object is, or with reasonable diligence should have been, first known or discovered to be in the patient's body.

(b) In the event the cause of action shall have been fraudulently concealed from the knowledge of the person entitled thereto, the cause of action shall be deemed to have first accrued at, and not before, the time at which such fraud shall be, or with reasonable diligence should have been, first known or discovered.

(3) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (4) of this section, if at the time at which the cause of action shall or with reasonable diligence might have been first known or discovered, the person to whom such claim has accrued shall be six (6) years of age or younger, then such minor or the person claiming through such minor may, notwithstanding that the period of time limited pursuant to subsections (1) and (2) of this section shall have expired, commence action on such claim at any time within two (2) years next after the time at which the minor shall have reached his sixth birthday, or shall have died, whichever shall have first occurred.

(4) If at the time at which the cause of action shall or with reasonable diligence might have been first known or discovered, the person to whom such claim has accrued shall be a minor without a parent or legal guardian, then such minor or the person claiming through such minor may, notwithstanding that the period of time limited pursuant to subsections (1) and (2) of this section shall have expired, commence action on such claim at any time within two (2) years next after the time at which the minor shall have a parent or legal guardian or shall have died, whichever shall have first occurred; provided, however, that in no event shall the period of limitation begin to run prior to such minor's sixth birthday unless such minor shall have died.

(5) If at the time at which the cause of action shall or with reasonable diligence might have been first known or discovered, the person to whom such claim has accrued shall be under the disability of unsoundness of mind, then such person or the person claiming through him may, notwithstanding that the period of time hereinbefore limited shall have expired, commence action on such claim at any time within two (2) years next after the time at which the person to whom the right shall have first accrued shall have ceased to be under the disability, or shall have died, whichever shall have first occurred.

(6) When any person who shall be under the disabilities mentioned in subsections (3), (4) and (5) of this section at the time at which his right shall have first accrued, shall depart this life without having ceased to be under such disability, no time shall be allowed by reason of the disability of such person to commence action on the claim of such person beyond the period prescribed under Section 15-1-55, Mississippi Code of 1972.

(7) For the purposes of subsection (3) of this section, and only for the purposes of such subsection, the disability of infancy or minority shall be removed from and after a person has reached his sixth birthday.

(8) For the purposes of subsection (4) of this section, and only for the purposes of such subsection, the disability of infancy or minority shall be removed from and after a person has reached his sixth birthday or from and after such person shall have a parent or legal guardian, whichever occurs later, unless such disability is otherwise removed by law.

(9) The limitation established by this section as to a licensed physician, osteopath, dentist, hospital or nurse shall apply only to actions the cause of which accrued on or after July 1, 1976.

(10) The limitation established by this section as to pharmacists shall apply only to actions the cause of which accrued on or after July 1, 1978.

(11) The limitation established by this section as to podiatrists shall apply only to actions the cause of which accrued on or after July 1, 1979.

(12) The limitation established by this section as to optometrists and chiropractors shall apply only to actions the cause of which accrued on or after July 1, 1983.

(13) The limitation established by this section as to actions commenced on behalf of minors shall apply only to actions the cause of which accrued on or after July 1, 1989.

(14) The limitation established by this section as to institutions for the aged or infirm shall apply only to actions the cause of which occurred on or after January 1, 2003.

(15) No action based upon the health care provider's professional negligence may be begun unless the defendant has been given at least sixty (60) days' prior written notice of the intention to begin the action. No particular form of notice is required, but it shall notify the defendant of the legal basis of the claim and the type of loss sustained, including with specificity the nature of the injuries suffered. If the notice is served within sixty (60) days prior to the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations, the time for the commencement of the action shall be extended sixty (60) days from the service of the notice for said health care providers and others. This subsection shall not be applicable with respect to any defendant whose name is unknown to the plaintiff at the time of filing the complaint and who is identified therein by a fictitious name.

(16) The limitations in this section shall not be applicable to any action based on a violation of this act, and shall be commenced within the time prescribed for any violation of this act.

SECTION 9. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2020.