Senate Seeks To Pass Law Requiring Castration For All Sex Offenders
Â Iowa State Senator Joni Ernst is sponsoring a bill aimed at societyâs most heinous criminals â sex offenders.Â  Ernst gained notoriety after her US Senate campaign commercial about animal castration went viral.Â  The attention-getting adÂ contained the line: âI grew up castrating hogs on an Iowa farm. So when I get to Washington, Iâll know how to cut pork.ââI was ridiculed from a lot of people after that and had to disappear for a while,â said Ernst.Â  âBut then I thought long and hard about what matters to me.Â  I kept hearing this voice in my head, and it said âgo with what you know â¦ go with what you know.ââErnst introduced a House Resolution that would require castration of all male sex offenders beginning in 2015.Â  âThe system we have going now isnât working well at all,â she said. âIn the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. We need stricter laws to protect society.âSex offenders are required to list themselves in a stateâs sex offender registry.Â  When they relocate, they are required to notify neighbors of their sex offender status.Â  Often, drugsÂ thatÂ suppress sex drive areÂ used as a part of a âchemicalâ castration treatment.âIâm aware of chemical castration,â said the state senator, âbut people often go off their meds.Â  The current system also results in neighborhood unrest, and the offender eventually moves from location to location which is dangerous.Â  Eventually, some of them slip through the cracks, and re-offend.Â  The resolution Iâm sponsoring will put an end to all of that.ââThatâs just nuts,â said human rights advocate Paul Zubra. âWe say we live in a civilized society, but this is the most uncivilized society can get, not counting the death penalty.Â  I can understand incarceration and monitoring, even living in a sort of halfway house setting because at least thereâs therapy involved there. Sex offenders are the worst of society.Â  But, to castrateâ¦Oh man â the penis? It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.ââMy method is permanent,â said Sen. Ernst. âOne medically supervised procedure and snip-snap, itâs done.Â  Weâre not talking about some primitive act with sharp stones orÂ hot pokers and steak knives â weâre talking about scalpels and doctors and nurses and hospitals. It would be great to just let the victimized party hack at the genitals of their attacker with a meat cleaver, but that isnât what this bill is about.âWhether or not the resolution passes, Sen. Ernst knows that she will forever be associated with neutering.Â  âThat doesnât bother me,â she said. Â âSometimes you just gotta grab life by the balls, and then cut those balls clean off. The important thing here is Iâm doing what I knowÂ is right.Â  Itâs all about getting to the root of the problem, and nipping it in the bud.âThe bill comes up for a vote before the Senateâs Thanksgiving recess.