Washington — A federal court has denied House Democrats’ request to intervene in the appeal of a Michigan criminal case in order to defend the constitutionality of the federal law prohibiting female genital mutilation.

House Democratic leaders over the summer had asked the U.S Circuit Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit to let them take up the 1996 law’s defense after the Department of Justice declined to appeal a ruling invalidating the law as unconstitutional last year.

At the time, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the Trump administration’s “sudden refusal to advance legal arguments to defend a long-standing federal statute criminalizing this horrific act disrespects the health and futures of vulnerable women and girls.’’

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