It’s frightening to see that people are opposing Hurst’s initiative not thinking about the children.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – We’ve all seen the touching Oscars performance that Lady Gaga gave. Sexual abuse survivors of all ages appeared on the scene next to her while trying to choke back tears. “Until it happens to you” reverberated around the still, touched audience. It’s obvious that the victims are left scarred for life. But what happens to the offenders? An Alabama legislator proposed chemical castration as punishment for child rapists.
Steve Hurst is proposing that sexual offenders that target children under the age of twelve be castrated (surgically or chemically). And the world is turning against him.
According to the bill that Hurst is trying to push, sexual molesters would have to be 21-year-old or more, they would have to finish their sentence and, the rapists must also pay for the procedure themselves.
It sounds like a harsh sentence, but as the Alabama legislator puts it, “the punishment must fit the crime”. He defends his bill against the people attacking his lack of humanity saying that he is not a monster for proposing such drastic measures.
The real monsters are those people who take advantage of an innocent, defenseless child. For a couple of minutes of pleasure, they scar the infant for life. Why should they serve some years in prison and then go back to minding their own business, free, on the streets while their victims go through hours of therapy, some ending up committing suicide?
And Hurst is not proposing something that out of the ordinary. States like Florida, California, Louisiana, Georgia, Oregon, Montana, Wisconsin and Texas already allow surgical or chemical castration for those found guilty of repeated sexual offenses.
This is not the first time when the Republican state representative tried to introduce the new legislation.
The Civil Liberties American Union and other groups that focus on defending fundamental human rights are opposing the bill qualifying it as being unusual and cruel.
In response, Hurst asked them who is more inhumane, the individual trying to impose a severe punishment that will make molesters think twice before robbing children of their innocence, or the monster that looks at a minor and gets aroused? A person who pushes a young child into having suicidal thoughts triggered by a sexual assault is not a human being and should be treated in accordance.
An Alabama legislator proposed chemical castration as punishment for child rapists, and the world seems more focused on defending the offenders rather than the victims.
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Joe Hennessey
