A Georgia law restricting access to gender-affirming care for transgender prison inmates has been struck down.
According to a report from The Advocate, federal Judge Victoria M. Calvert issued a permanent injunction on Dec. 3 against SB 185, finding that it violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
“The state is responsible for the well-being of any person it holds in its custody, regardless of whether that person has gender dysphoria or another diagnosis,” Emily Early, an attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights who represented the plaintiffs, told The Advocate. “Gender dysphoria is a medical condition that is just like any other condition of diabetes or cancer that the state must provide minimally adequate treatment for that meets constitutional standards.”
SB 185, which was signed by Gov. Brian Kemp in the spring and went into enforcement over the summer, prohibited the use of state funds or resources for gender-affirming surgeries, hormone replacement therapy, cosmetic procedures, and other treatments for gender dysphoria for trans inmates.
In September, Judge Calvert temporarily blocked the ban after a class action lawsuit was filed by nearly 300 incarcerated transgender people.
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