The Trump administration asked the US supreme court, on Monday, to allow it to deny gender-affirming care to transgender inmates in federal prisons, while litigation over the matter continues in lower courts.
In its latest emergency request to the high court, the solicitor general, D John Sauer, wrote that certain care, including sex-trait-modification surgeries, hormone therapy and social accommodations – such as undergarments, makeup, padding and wigs – “could no longer be justified as treatment for gender dysphoria”.
Sauer asked that justices intervene in a legal dispute over Donald Trump’s executive order from January 2025 that directed the Bureau of Prisons to “ensure that no Federal funds are expended for any medical procedure, treatment, or drug for the purpose of conforming an inmate’s appearance to that of the opposite sex”.
The order prohibited trans inmates from receiving certain gender transition medical care and ordered trans women inmates to be housed in men’s facilities.
Trans inmates sued the administration over the policy and, so far, two lower courts have blocked officials from implementing the order as the larger lawsuit over the executive order continues.
In his second term, Trump has sought to restrict trans rights by rescinding Biden-era policies that allowed trans women and girls to participate on athletic teams that align with their gender identity, trans service members to serve in the military and trans minors to receive gender-affirming care.
The administration has leaned heavily on the conservative-majority supreme court to assist it in implementing anti-trans policies, often in the form of emergency requests.
In Monday’s request, Sauer argued the government had suffered harm by not being permitted to deny gender-affirming care to trans inmates because “prison administrators have determined is necessary to maintain institutional security”.
He cites conclusions from the Bureau of Prisons that found providing greater gender-affirming care access “raise fairness concerns” and “breed resentment among other inmates”, among other concerns.
Justices are asking lawyers for the trans prisoners to respond to the government’s request by 8 October.
So far, the court has been sympathetic toward the administration’s policies. It has allowed the state department to remove preferred gender markers on passports for nonbinary or trans Americans and the Department of Defense to enforce a ban on trans service members.
Last term, the justices also upheld state-level bans on providing gender-affirming care for trans minors and banning trans women and girls athletes from participating on sports teams.
