Bill to castrate child molesters passes in Alabama

Legislators in Alabama have passed a bill that would require pedophiles to undergo chemical castration as a condition of parole,

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If the governor passes the bill into law, it would apply to anyone over the age of 21 who have been convicted of sexually assaulting minors.

Republican state Rep. Steve Hurst introduced HB 379 and said convicted pedophiles "have marked this child for life and the punishment should fit the crime."

"I had people call me in the past when I introduced it and said, 'Don't you think this is inhumane?'" Hurst told CBS affiliate WIAT-TV.

"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."

"If we do something of this nature it would deter something like this happening again in Alabama and maybe reduce the numbers," said Hurst.

According to CBS, the bill Hurst introduced in 2016 would have required child molesters older than 21 to pay for their own surgical castration before being released from custody. This most recent bill would require them to take medication that interferes with their sex drive.

The bill states that the child molesters would be given the first dose at least a month before being released from prison, and they would have to go to the Department of Public Health for further treatment.

Hurst told WIAT-TV that the castration could be reversed by stopping the medication, and a court could or would decide when to do that.

Attorney Raymond Johnson said the bill could face a challenge if it is signed into law because the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prevents cruel and unusual punishment.