(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Kentucky state Sen. Karen Berg argued in a Thursday committee hearing that child-shaped sex dolls could allow pedophiles a kind of “release,” the New York Post reported.
The Republican Party of Kentucky posted video footage of Berg’s comments on Twitter Friday.
“This might be the most disturbing thing you see today,” they wrote, suggesting that Berg’s remarks have “no place in the Commonwealth.”
Berg made her comment amidst a discussion of HB 207, which would outlaw the sale and possession of such sex dolls, as well as child sexual-abuse material generated through artificial intelligence.
According to Berg, who said she has arrived at her conclusions after Google searching the night before, sex dolls shaped like children could reduce instances of pedophiles sexually assaulting children.
“There are what they call ‘MAPS,’ Minor Attracted Persons,” she said, “and the limited amount of research that’s done on these dolls, guys, suggest[s] that they actually—for people who are attracted to minors—that these dolls actually decrease their proclivity to go out and attack children, that it actually gives them a release that makes them less likely to go outside of their home.”
Efforts by the Left to sanitize pedophilia by imposing politically correct terminology have themselves been met with equal parts scorn and ridicule.
However, some fear that, like other behaviors once classified as sexual deviancy, it may only be a matter of time before the Overton window for broader acceptance of pedophilia gets pried open and so-called MAPs become a protected class.
After feeling some pressure to respond to Berg’s remarks, Democrat Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s office said that the governor supports the bill and opposes pedophilia.
“The Governor disagrees with the comments,” said Crystal Staley, Beshear’s communications director.
“He fully supports and will sign the bill,” Staley continued. “The administration has also worked with the Kentucky State Police and Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky on the bill’s content.”
Berg later apologized, claiming that she did not mean to promote pedophilia.
“As a mom and a physician, I am of course deeply concerned with the harm of pedophilia and I regret if my question in committee didn’t convey that,” she wrote, adding that she ultimately voted to outlaw child sex dolls.
“I voted in favor of House Bill (HB) 207 to outlaw child-sex dolls, a stance that aligns with my commitment to safeguarding the well-being of our youth and holding perpetrators accountable,” she said.