Prison Treatments Stay Put

SCOTUS blocked the White House’s restriction of transgender treatments for federal inmates, for now.

In January 2025, President Trump executive ordered the Bureau of Prisons to revise medical care rules so funds aren’t spent on “conforming an inmate’s appearance to that of the opposite sex.” The policy would halt surgeries, phase out hormone therapy, and end social accommodations (makeup, wigs, pronoun changes), while continuing mental health services.

Transgender inmates sued #47, saying treatment limitations violated “cruel and unusual punishment” protections. A district court ordered continued treatments, citing mental health, a ruling the DOJ asked the High Court to pause. The Supremes denied the DOJ’s request on Wednesday (see the one-sentence order).

In response, the Trump admin said it’d continue efforts to “stop the waste of taxpayer dollars” and protect Americans from “dangerous, life-altering medical practices.”

PRAY WITH US
God Who Put On Flesh, we ask for Your Spirit’s power as personal stories become the culture’s battleground; erase any vitriol and increase our virtue. Make Your church the safest of all places to navigate gender identity. May it be a place where people can come with their unabridged stories and experience Your transforming authorship. May they be dignified with warm hospitality. Create the strongest possible adhesive between grace and truth in our thoughts, words, and deeds, for Your glory, and the flourishing of Your people. Amen.

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