More than 600 federal prisoners were receiving hormone treatment as of last year
About 2,000 transgender people are incarcerated in federal prisons nationwide. Court documents showed more than 600 federal prisoners were receiving hormone treatment as of last year. A sworn statement from a prison official said only two people in federal custody had ever received sex-trait modification surgeries.
Many transgender prisoners have received gender-affirming hormones and social accommodations under policies that have been in place for decades. In February, the Bureau of Prisons adopted a new policy that would treat gender dysphoria with psychological therapy but would not provide hormone therapy, clothing accommodations or sex-trait modification surgeries.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, blocked the policy from taking effect after saying the bureau had not adequately justified it. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court left his order in place in a temporary 7-2 procedural ruling, requiring the Trump administration to continue providing transgender federal prisoners with hormone treatment and other care while litigation continues.
The order came in one sentence without an explanation. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented. The ruling keeps the policy on hold but does not resolve the underlying litigation.
The policy originated with an executive order President Trump issued on the first day of his second term. The order directed the Bureau of Prisons to stop using federal money to pay for any drug or procedure that had “the purpose of conforming an inmate’s appearance to that of the opposite sex.” The bureau adopted its policy in February before Lamberth blocked it.
Advocates said the care is medically necessary for transgender people who have acute mental health needs and are especially vulnerable in prisons. The Trump administration said hormones, surgeries and social supports are not appropriate treatments for gender dysphoria and pose security risks in prisons.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the Supreme Court has intervened on an emergency basis in dozens of other cases to allow the administration to implement policies blocked by lower courts, including a ban on transgender people in the military.
For now, the Trump administration must continue providing transgender federal prisoners with hormone treatment and other gender-related care. The policy remains blocked while litigation continues, and the Supreme Court’s unexplained procedural order leaves the dispute unresolved.