Federal and state authorities are acting within constitutional limits when they deny inmates’ requests for sex-change surgeries or hormone treatments, according to Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita. Rokita made this argument in a brief filed with a U.S. district court this week.
“Across the country, medical professionals and policymakers are engaged in intense dialogue over how to address surging cases of gender dysphoria,” said Attorney General Rokita. “The Constitution leaves policy choices about best medical practices to politically accountable policymakers.”
Rokita is co-leading, along with Idaho, a coalition of 24 states in submitting an amicus brief supporting an executive order from former President Donald Trump. The order sets new guidelines for federal inmates who claim to experience gender dysphoria. It prohibits federal prison and immigration detention center inmates from receiving taxpayer-funded sex-change procedures and requires that biological males be housed in men’s correctional facilities.
The American Civil Liberties Union and Transgender Law Center have filed suit against the Trump administration on behalf of several transgender inmates. They argue that the executive order amounts to “cruel and unusual punishment” under the Eighth Amendment.
“Nothing in the Eighth Amendment’s text or history allows prisoners to demand whatever medical interventions they desire,” said Attorney General Rokita.
In addition to his involvement at the federal level, Rokita is continuing legal efforts within Indiana to defend a state ban on using public funds for sex-change surgeries for prisoners. A federal judge has ordered Indiana officials to allow a convicted inmate seeking such procedures to do so as part of assuming a female identity.
A headshot of Attorney General Rokita is available online.
