Idaho Lawmaker To Push Castration Senator Plans To Introduce Bill Based A New California Law

State Sen. John Sandy said he wants convicted child sexual abusers chemically castrated.

The Hagerman Republican said he would introduce a bill in January based on a new California law that forces repeat child molesters to receive injections of a hormone to suppress their sex drive.

“When there is absolute consequence which is going to be the result of a crime, often that in itself is a hindrance and helps to alleviate a lot of the problem,” Sandy said Wednesday. “Hopefully, if this bill should become law, that would happen in Idaho.”

The bill would target those convicted of sex crimes against children under 13, including sodomy and lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor. Sandy said he was not yet sure about all the details.

California’s first-in-the-nation law, passed in August, calls for optional weekly injections of the drug Depo-Provera after a first molestation offense and mandatory injections after a second crime against a child under 13. Once the injections are stopped, the effects wear off.

Depo-Provera is a women’s birth-control drug that lowers testosterone levels in men. Criminals also could opt for surgical castration.

Medical experts question the technique of chemical castration, pointing out that many rapists and molesters are driven by the urge to overpower and control rather than to have sex.