After World War II, its use in Europe was dramatically scaled back, probably because of the increased awareness of humanitarian concerns prompted by the Holocaust. The drugs' primary use in men is to control prostate cancer, but when injected daily or weekly they reduce testosterone to castration levels. Side effects include serious allergic reactions and the formation of blood clots that can kill patients. The drugs also appear to alter thinking enough to increase suicide rates. The Czech Republic and Germany have reintroduced castration in this modern, seemingly humane form, although only among sex offenders who volunteer for treatment.
Surgical castration is less mutilating than it once was.
Orchiectomy, as it is called, is a day-surgery procedure done under local anesthesia. Each testicle is removed through a small scrotal incision similar to the kind made during a vasectomy. Three of the four new state laws call for sentencing rapists to be castrated, but with some variations. Florida requires judges to impose either injections or orchiectomy for repeat rapists. California does the same, but only for repeat child molesters.