Alabama Representative Juandalynn Givan, House Judiciary Committee member, asks a question of Jack Sharman, House Judiciary Committee special council, while he speaks to the Alabama House Judiciary Committee during a hearing on Gov. Robert Bentley’s impeachment Monday, April 10, 2017, in Montgomery, Ala. (Albert Cesare/The Montgomery Advertiser via AP, Pool).
Alabama Democratic state Rep. Juandalynn Givan made good on her promise to increase penalties for sex offenders by introducing a bill to punish child rapists with castration.
Givan was clear that her proposal was connected to Alabama’s near-total ban on abortion. In a statement to Newsweek, Givan called the bill “simple,” and said if a young girl has been the victim of rape or incest, then a man found guilty of the crime should be forced to have a vasectomy or another form of castration.
“In recent years, the Legislature has passed laws restricting reproduction rights in the state and the penalties have been imposed only on women. It’s time for that to change,” Givan said. “The last time I checked a biology textbook, it takes a woman and a man to make a baby. Men in Alabama need to be held to the same level of responsibility as women.”