The Louisiana state legislature has approved SB 371, which would allow judges to order surgical castration for convicted child sex offenders (Picture: Getty Images)
People guilty of sex crimes against children may be surgically castrated under a bill that has been approved by lawmakers in one US state.
Child sex offenders convicted of aggravated rape, aggravated incestuous crime or aggravated crime against nature with victims under age 13 would be forced to undergo surgery inside prisons.
The Louisiana state legislature gave final approval to SB 371 on Monday, sending it to Governor Jeff Landry’s desk.
If the Republican governor signs the bill, Louisiana would become the first state in America to allow judges to order surgical castration for child sex offenders.
A court would have to determine a defendant fit for castration at least 60 days before the procedure, to be performed by a doctor with the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.
The bill also requires that a medical expert appointed by the court deem a defendant an ‘appropriate candidate for surgery’, and states that the procedure will not be performed if contraindicated.
Opponents of the bill have ripped it as cruel.
‘It is, at best, ineffective and, at worst, barbaric,’ stated Sandy Rozek, a spokesperson for the advocacy group National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL).
Democratic Rep Edmond Jordan argued that the bill would disproportionately target black men.
‘Before we were free and even afterwards in Jim Crow, how did they put other black men in their place? They would take him, lynch him, and castrate him,’ said Jordan, according to USA Today.
Louisiana, along with several other states including California and Texas, already enforce laws allowing judges to order chemical castration which entails taking medication that blocks hormones.
Surgical castration, or orchiectomy, involves removing one or both testicles and permanently reduces testosterone levels. The procedure takes 30 to 60 minutes.
‘Providers use this procedure to treat and prevent testicular cancer as well as to treat male breast cancer and prostate cancer,’ states the Cleveland Clinic on its website.
The bill was introduced by Democratic Senator Regina Barrow, who said during a hearing in May, ‘I want to make sure that ours kids are safe.’
Landry’s office did not immediately comment regarding whether he plans to sign the bill.
Defendants who fail to submit to the court order of surgical castration could face an additional three- to five-year prison sentence.
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