Trans inmates?

[meadowlander]

3. There's an estimated 1200-4500 transgender inmates in the US.

When we talk about "gender affirming care" for trans inmates though, you are talking about a wide range of things.

Some people who identify as transgender have chosen not to undertake gender affirming care for various reasons.

Some people take hormones regularly.

Some people go for gender reassignment surgery.

Many of the transgender inmates will have gone into prison having already had this. So there is probably a very small number of people who have long prison sentences or who didn't realise that they were transgender until they were in prison that a policy to enable reassignment surgery would affect.

And I think that should be dealt with on a case by case basis. In prison for six months for drugs? Doesn't make sense for the state to pay for a $20,000 surgery. In for life and suicidally depressed because of gender dysphoria? I think at some point the state has a duty of care for the people that it has decided to imprison.

Hormone therapy is not that expensive and I think prisoners should have access to it. Not having access forces them to go through reverse puberty which is a cruel and unusual punishment. You wouldn't tell diabetic prisoners that they can't have access to insulin because it's too expensive and lack of access to health care is part of their punishment.