A controversial new bill in Oklahoma would allow the state to chemically castrate sex offenders, reports TIME magazine.
The proposed law is being sponsored by Rep. Rick West, a Republican from the small southeastern Oklahoma town of Heavener. If the bill passes, sex offenders who are released back into society would be required to take drugs that lower testosterone and decrease sexual libido.
The bill would only require the measures to be taken after a second violent sexual offense unless the man opted for a surgical alternative or the court intervened. The bill faces a tough road ahead because some critics see it as unconstitutional.
As Oklahoma American Civil Liberties Union chapter spokeswoman Allie Shinn told the AP: “It’s hard to imagine this couldn’t be considered cruel or unusual.” A similar bill almost passed in Oklahoma in 2002.
