In Georgia a judge has blocked a ban on gender affirming care for trans inmates determining it violated the Eighth Amendment. The case challenged SB 185, a bill that prohibited the use of state funds or resources for gender-affirming surgeries, hormone replacement therapy, cosmetic procedures, and other treatments for gender dysphoria. U.S. District Judge Victoria Marie Calvert ruled against the law last week, ordering Georgia to continue providing hormone therapies to inmates who were already taking them, as well as others who are newly diagnosed with gender dysphoria, and needing treatment.
“The state is responsible for the well being of any person it holds in its custody, regardless of whether that person has gender dysphoria or another diagnosis,” said Emily Early, the attorney from the Center for Constitutional Rights who represented the plaintiffs in the case to The Advocate. Early told the outlet SB 185 specifically targeted transgender people, allowing the same medical treatments for other conditions. “Gender dysphoria is a medical condition that is just like any other condition of diabetes or cancer that the state must provide minimally adequate treatment for that meets constitutional standards,” she continued.
Early defended a total of five trans people, two men and three women, who filed their suit against the bill in August. Plaintiffs argued that gender affirming care was crucial for mental health, and that to prohibit access to hormone therapy would cause severe medical complications for patients, including cardiovascular complications and cognitive decline.
The continued protection and accessibility of gender affirming care has been supported by various medical organizations including the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, the World Medical Association, and the World Health Organization.
All states are responsible for providing health care to incarcerated people. According to reports from Advocate, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that to ignore a prisoner’s medical needs is a violation of the Eighth Amendment which states “cruel and unusual punishments [shall not be] inflicted.”
