White County, Tenn., is giving inmates 30 days off their prison sentences if they get a vasectomy or, for women, a four-year birth control implant.
The program works on a volunteer basis and inmates undergo the procedures free of charge. Judge Sam Benningfield established the policy May 15, and now the ACLU is deriding it as unconstitutional, News Channel 5 reported. Benningfield defended his decision as helping to break a cycle of crime in the county.
“I hope to encourage them to take personal responsibility and give them a chance, when they do get out, to not to be burdened with children. This gives them a chance to get on their feet and make something of themselves,” Benningfield told the channel.
District Attorney Bryant Dunaway is less optimistic, however, calling the program “concerning,” and saying it may be illegal.
The ACLU agreed, issuing a statement Wednesday slamming the choice between vasectomies and jail time as “coerced sterilization.”
“Such a choice violates the fundamental constitutional right to reproductive autonomy and bodily integrity by interfering with the intimate decision of whether and when to have a child, imposing an intrusive medical procedure on individuals who are not in a position to reject it,” the statement read.
Benningfield maintains his pragmatic defense of the program, however.
“I understand it won’t be entirely successful but if you reach two or three people, maybe that’s two or three kids not being born under the influence of drugs. I see it as a win, win,” he told ABC15.
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