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MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Lawmakers in Alabama have passed a bill that would require the chemical castration of people convicted of a sex crime against a child under the age of 13, according to WIAT.

If Gov. Kay Ivey signs the bill, it would require offenders aged 21 and older to be chemically castrated before leaving prison.

The bill, known as HB 379, was introduced by Republican State Rep Steve Hurst of Calhoun County, which is in the northeast part of the state.

“I had people call me in the past when I introduced it and said, ‘Don’t you think this is inhumane?’ I asked them, ‘What’s more inhumane than when you take a little infant child and you sexually molest that infant child when the child cannot defend themselves or get away, and they have to go through all the things they have to go through?’ If you want to talk about inhumane, that’s inhumane,” Hurst told WIAT.

Hurst said he hopes the bill will reduce the number of sex crimes against children by encouraging potential offenders to think twice.

“If we do something of this nature, it would deter something like this happening again in Alabama and maybe reduce the numbers,” Hurst told WIAT.