by Mary Margaret Olohan
Certain convicted sex offenders in Alabama might be chemically castrated if Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signs legislation on her desk.
Republican Alabama state Rep. Steve Hurst introduced H.B. 379 to target sex offenders and protect children.
If someone is convicted of a sex offense against a child younger than 13 and is eligible for parole, that person would be chemically castrated by the Department of Public Health, according to WSFA News. The chemical castration would reduce testosterone or other hormone production.
“This bill would provide that a person convicted of a sex offense involving a person under the age of 13 years who is eligible for parole, as a condition of parole, shall be required to undergo chemical castration treatment in addition to any other penalty or condition prescribed by law,” according to the bill.
Hurst said he wishes physical castrations were possible.
“I’d prefer it be surgical, because the way I look at it, if they’re going to mark these children for life, they need to be marked for life. My preference would be, if someone does a small infant child like that, they need to die. God’s going to deal with them one day,” Hurst told WSFA News.
Hurst said Ivey has not confirmed whether she will sign the bill, and Ivey did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Caller News Foundation.
The Alabama governor caused an uproar when she signed H.B. 314 into law May 15.
H.B. 314 is the most restrictive abortion law in the United States and a near-total ban on abortions. The law makes no exceptions for cases of rape or incest but would make an exception if the mother’s health was in serious danger.
Today, I signed into law the Alabama Human Life Protection Act. To the bill’s many supporters, this legislation stands as a powerful testament to Alabamians’ deeply held belief that every life is precious & that every life is a sacred gift from God. https://t.co/DwKJyAjSs8 pic.twitter.com/PIUQip6nmw
— Governor Kay Ivey (@GovernorKayIvey) May 15, 2019
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Mary Margaret Olohan is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation. Follow Mary on Twitter.
