***NEWS RELEASE***
Tennessee Pastors Network Praises Tenn. Senate for Passing Mandatory Reporting FGM Bill
TNPN President Dale Walker: Sharia Law Approves and, in Some Cases, Makes Horrific Practice of FGM Obligatory for Followers of Islam
NASHVILLE—The Tennessee Senate last week unanimously passed a new bill requiring health care practitioners to report incidents of female genital mutilation (FGM). After passing by a vote of 31-0, the bill will now head to the full House.
Sen. Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro) sponsored SB 1800, which requires all hospitals, facilities and practitioners to report to the Department of Health information about any incident that appears to be female genital mutilation within 30 days of treatment.
“The Tennessee Pastors Network applauds this bill regarding FGM reporting in Tennessee,” said Tennessee Pastors Network (TNPN) President Dale Walker. “Sharia law approves and, in some cases, makes the horrific practice of FGM obligatory for followers of Islam. It is crucial that these crimes against women and girls be reported as the cruel abuse that it is. Medical providers must not be able to give a pass to those who demand that Sharia entitles them to the right to mutilate women and young girls. Sharia-supremacism is a real and daily threat to our Constitution and the Republic it governs. Not only should our lawmakers be addressing this serious matter of FGM, but all pastors with a biblical worldview must wake up to how horrific and how barbaric Sharia law is, and how Islam abuses women and girls.”
The national #EndFGMToday initiative notes that female genital mutilation is recognized by both the World Health Organization and the United Nations as a human rights violation perpetrated upon little girls and women. Over 200 million women worldwide have been subjected to this cruel and barbaric practice. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates that 513,000 girls and women are at risk of FGM in the United States. Twenty-six states, including Tennessee, and the federal government have criminalized FGM. Anti-FGM efforts are underway in several other states.
TNPN is a state chapter of the American Pastors Network (APN, www.americanpastorsnetwork.net), the largest national network dedicated to equipping pastors to be a voice for truth in the public square.
TNPN and APN offer pastors numerous online resources that help clergy choose sermon topics and find information for other church ministries. With some free and some paid resources, topics include abortion, apologetics, creation, the culture crisis, economics, education, the environment, history, homosexuality, Islam and marriage, along with many others.
The Tennessee Pastors Network encourages pastors to bring together biblical and constitutional principles in their sermons and provides resources to pastors throughout the state. For more information on TNPN, visit its website at www.tnpastors.net, its Facebook page or call (931) 267-0816.
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