Louisiana lawmakers have approved a bill that could force individuals convicted of sex crimes against children to undergo surgical castration, marking what could be a first in the United States if signed into law by Governor Jeff Landry.
The legislation, passed overwhelmingly by the state legislature on Monday, would permit judges to order surgical castration for defendants convicted of certain aggravated sex crimes, such as rape, against children under the age of 13.
The bill now awaits the decision of Governor Landry, a Republican, whose office has not yet responded to inquiries about his intentions regarding the legislation.
Currently, a handful of states, including Louisiana, California, and Texas, have laws that allow judges to order chemical castration, a less invasive procedure involving hormone-blocking medication. However, Louisiana would be the first state to allow surgical castration as a judicial penalty, according to the National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL), an advocacy group opposing the bill.
The proposed law mandates that a court-appointed medical expert must determine whether a defendant is an “appropriate candidate for surgery” before a judge can order the procedure. Critics of the measure argue that the punishment is both cruel and irreversible. “It is, at best, ineffective and, at worst, barbaric,” said Sandy Rozek, a spokesperson for NARSOL, in a statement.
While the bill garnered most of its support from Republicans, who hold a majority in the Louisiana legislature, it was introduced by Senator Regina Barrow, a Democrat. “I want to make sure that our kids are safe,” she said at a hearing last month.
If enacted, this legislation would represent a significant and controversial shift in the legal penalties for sex crimes against children in the United States.
