<div><strong>We need your help to ensure a state medical board does not continue to license doctors who perform female genital cutting on young girls.</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img class="text-editor_textEditorImage__43_GE" alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/99399195_1769621062661038_r." width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>
<div>In 2017, federal prosecutors charged a Detroit-area physician with performing female genital mutilation (FGM) on multiple young girls between seven and sixteen years old. It was touted as the first <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/detroit-emergency-room-doctor-arrested-and-charged-performing-female-genital-mutilation" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FGM prosecution</a> in United States history.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The federal government lost the case so badly that the 1996 Federal FGM ban was ruled unconstitutional. Even though the doctor's own defense admitted she had performed a procedure that involved "removing mucous membrane from the girls' genitalia," she never faced justice. It would not be until 2020 that a new federal law against FGM was passed, but by then it was too late.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>However, this is the exact situation state medical boards exist to handle. A fellow physician, a board-certified anesthesiologist, filed a formal complaint calling for her license to be revoked, writing that performing surgery on young girls without anesthesia "amounts to torture." Medical boards have the authority to revoke a doctor's medical license for far less serious behavior.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Michigan dismissed its investigation two months before the court ruling. The doctor who was federally prosecuted for FGM still holds an active, unrestricted Michigan <a href="https://www.hegemonmedia.com/p/why-does-the-doctor-charged-in-americas" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">medical license</a> . She is still employed at an emergency room in the Detroit area and could be seeing patients to this day who have no idea their doctor performed FGM on young girls. Prosecutors estimated up to 100 victims over a 12-year period.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>As someone who has been documenting the issue of childhood genital cutting in America for over a decade, I've spent the past month filing Freedom of Information Act requests to find out why. It was my original reporting that uncovered that a federally prosecuted FGM doctor still has her license and the medical board closed their case against her with an official record of "No Action Taken," but now I need your help.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>I do not yet have the board's internal emails. These communications would show who made these decisions, what they knew, and why they chose not to act. These are public records that the government must make available by law. However, the Michigan state medical board is claiming it will cost $12,792.93 to search those emails and provide those records. It's a classic bureaucratic technique used when a government agency wants to avoid accountability, designed to make journalists go away.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We've challenged those fees as unreasonable, unjust, and internally contradictory. However, if our challenge is denied, I can't pay that bill alone. I've already spent nearly $1000 on this investigation and will likely need more to uncover the full truth. I am prepared to continue filing requests, challenging fees, and investigating until we know the truth, but we need your support.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This is more than one bad doctor. If a physician can be federally prosecuted for FGM and keep her medical license without so much as a hearing, there is a larger issue in the medical system and how we protect children. If it can happen in one state, it can happen where you live too.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Most Americans assume FGM is unambiguously illegal and aggressively enforced. What I've found instead is a system that creates the appearance of prohibition while quietly ensuring no one is ever actually held accountable. Complaints get filed. Investigations get opened. Then, somehow, nothing happens. The infrastructure exists to recognize the problem, but not to respond to it.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This isn't about preventing doctors from performing FGM. That already happened. Girls were harmed, a doctor was prosecuted, and the state agency responsible for medical licensing decided that none of it warranted action. This is about whether the public will have the information they need to hold the medical system accountable for protecting doctors who perform FGM. They don't want you to know what they did. I do. Every contribution is a vote for public accountability, government transparency, and protecting children from harmful genital cutting. With your support, we will uncover the truth.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>---
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><a href="https://brendonmarotta.com/about/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong>Brendon Marotta</strong></a> is an investigative journalist, documentary filmmaker, and author. His film <em>American Circumcision</em> appeared on Netflix, and he is the author of <em>Children's Justice</em>. He has spent over a decade documenting issues of childhood rights and medical ethics. You can follow his reporting on <a href="https://www.hegemonmedia.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">HegemonMedia.com</a>.
</div>

Camille Bush

Anonymous

Everett Phillips

Dwayne Van lancker

Jacob Hermsen

Robert Struggles

John Giuffre

Expose Medical Board for Licensing an FGM Doctor

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Expose Medical Board for Licensing an FGM Doctor

Still $2,989 to go. Help us build momentum.