Lawmakers in Alabama passed a bill that would force some convicted sex offenders to pay for their own chemical castration before being released on parole. The new bill was sent to Gov. Kay Ivey and was passed in Senate last week. Sex offenders convicted of committing sex crimes against children under the age of 13 would have to pay for their own chemical castration if they were eligible for parole.
The bill states that the chemical castration process would require offenders to take pharmaceutical drugs that would reduce testosterone, hormones and other chemicals that drive libido. Parolees would have to take the medication until the judge deems it not necessary anymore. There are only certain people who are convicted of sex crimes against children that are eligible for parole.
Even though that there's been push back against the bill for what many deem as inhumane, State Rep. Steve Hurst, who introduced the bill, defended the law. "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," Hurt told WIAT-TV.