Alabama lawmakers have passed a new law that will force certain child molesters to undergo chemical castration. The bill will require anybody over the age of 21 who was convicted of sex crimes against a child under the age of 13 to be chemically castrated before they are released from prison.
"They have marked this child for life, and the punishment should fit the crime," Republican state Rep. Steve Hurst told WIAT-TV.
Offenders will be required to pay for the procedure themselves, and refusing to undergo it would be considered a parole violation.
Hurst, who has tried to introduce similar legislation in the past, hopes that the new law will result in a lower number of sexual assaults against children.
"I had people call me in the past when I introduced it and said don't you think this is inhumane? I asked them what's more inhumane than when you take a little infant child, and you sexually molest that infant child when the child cannot defend themselves or get away, and they have to go through all the things they have to go through. If you want to talk about inhumane-- that's inhumane," Hurst said.
The bill now heads to the desk of Alabama governor Kay Ivey.
If she signs the bill into law, Attorney Raymond Johnson says it will be challenged in court for being an inhumane form of punishment.
"They're going to challenge it under the 8th Amendment Constitution. They're going to claim that it is cruel and unusual punishment for someone who has served there time and for the rest of there life have to be castrated."
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