Two court of appeal judges upheld a 2012 ruling which says the Department of Correction is required to provide sex reassignment surgery for Michelle Kosilek, a 63-year-old transgender inmate serving a life sentence for murder, the Associated Press reported.
U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals Judges O. Rogeriee Thompson and William Kayatta Jr. ruled Friday to grant a sex change operation funded by taxpayer money because of "their obligation to enforce the constitutional rights of all persons, including prisoners," according to the AP.
The third member of the three-judge appeals panel, Juan Torruella, disagreed with the ruling and said it stepped outside the boundaries of the Eighth Amendment, the AP reported.
Michelle Kosilek was born Robert Kosilek and is currently serving a life sentence for the 1990 murder of his wife, the AP reported.
According to the Department of Correction, tried to overrule the initial outcome through the court of appeals, argued Kosilek had already received female hormone treatment, laser hair removal and psychotherapy as treatment for her gender identity disorder, according to the AP.
The Department of Correction also cited security concerns for Kosilek because he is in an all-male prison, the AP reported.
In their ruling, Judges Thompson and Kayatta Jr. said they were "assuredly mindful of the difficult tasks faced by prison officials every day," but "receiving medically necessary treatment" is a prisoner's right, "even if that treatment strikes some as odd or unorthodox," according to the AP.
Even though only two of the three judges considered gender reassignment surgery to be a necessary medical treatment, Kosilek's lawyer Joseph Sulman said he and his client were both happy the treatment was granted, the AP reported.
"This decision is really about more than sexual reassignment surgery," Sulman said, according to the AP. "It's about the state's requirement to treat all prisoners equally regardless of their gender identity or regardless of the circumstances."
