Federal Judge Victoria Calvert has permanently blocked part of a Georgia law that bars prisoners from receiving gender-affirming care. ruling On December 3, the state issued a statement saying that the state’s total ban on hormone therapy violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
The law, which Gov. Brian Kemp signed in May and went into effect in July, prohibits inmates from receiving hormone therapy or other treatment for gender dysphoria, even if a doctor deems it medically necessary. The law prohibits the state from funding such care and prevents transgender prisoners from paying for their own care. However, non-transgender prisoners can receive hormone therapy and other gender-affirming treatments, as long as the care is not related to gender transition.
Five inmates diagnosed with gender dysphoria have filed a lawsuit challenging the law on behalf of about 300 transgender people in Georgia prisons. They warned that the ban risks devastating health effects, including cardiovascular complications, cognitive decline and severe psychological distress that can lead to suicide and self-harm.
“The court finds that there is no genuine issue as to the fact that gender dysphoria is a serious medical necessity,” Calvert wrote. “Plaintiffs have provided evidence through experts that a blanket ban on hormone therapy is grossly insufficient care for gender dysphoria and poses an imminent risk of injury.”
Calvert emphasized that the ruling does not give all prisoners the right to hormone therapy, but instead requires doctors to make medical decisions based on individual needs rather than blanket policy.
He added that prisoners still face a “significant burden” if they want to challenge a doctor’s determination that hormone therapy is not medically necessary. She wrote that the court was not creating a “unilateral constitutional ratchet,” noting that prison doctors could ratchet down a patient’s treatment if the sentence was based on medical judgment.
In response to a past lawsuit by the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Georgia Department of Corrections acknowledged that transgender people in its custody are entitled to “constitutionally appropriate” health care.
Chinyele Ezee, senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, welcomed the ruling, calling it “a powerful reminder that the Constitution applies to everyone, including transgender people in prison.”
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
