Tennessee County Jail Offers Reduced Sentences for Inmates Who Get ‘Voluntarily’ Sterilized

According to an ABC15 report from this week, the White County jail in Tennessee is offering inmates reduced sentences if they “voluntarily” get sterilizations or vasectomies. A sterilization or vasectomy will county for 30 days of jail time, the report says.

The program was created by General Sessions Judge Sam Benningfield, who says high volumes of repeat offenders unable to pay child support due their criminal records inspired him to launch the program.

“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,” Benningfield reportedly told a CNN affiliate. “This gives them a chance to get on their feet and make something of themselves.”

“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 added.

But others don’t see it this way — namely District Attorney Bryant Dunaway, who oversees the prosecution of cases in White County and has said he is worried the program may be unethical and possibly illegal.

“It’s concerning to me, my office doesn’t support this order,” Dunaway told ABC15. “It’s comprehensible that an 18-year-old gets this done, it can’t get reversed and then that impacts the rest of their life.”

And it’s not just young people — as the American Civil Liberties Union points out, for all inmates, the “choice” isn’t really much of a choice, especially for people who may not be in the position or mental state to make a decision that will affect the rest of their lives.

“Offering a so-called ‘choice’ between jail time and coerced contraception or sterilization is unconstitutional. 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. Judges play an important role in our community – overseeing individuals’ childbearing capacity should not be part of that role.”

It’s also not clear what information inmates are being given to inform their decisions, but even with all of the information, it’s unclear if it’s possible for individuals to make choices like this while facing all the pressures that come with incarceration.

According to officials from the county jail, so far 38 male inmates have volunteered for vasectomies while 32 female inmates have received Nexplanon implants, a form of birth control over 99 percent effective in preventing pregnancy for around four years.

Giving female inmates the choice of accessing cost-free, long-term birth control if they want to and without affecting the length of their sentence is one thing, but offering sterilizations in exchange for shortened sentences is entirely another — one that brutally undercuts the right to bodily autonomy without pressure and coercion.

Controversy has long existed around sterilizations and jails, and it remains to be seen what the future will hold for White County and if this new program will hold.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.