FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky’s Attorney General Russell Coleman said Thursday that the state is not required by law to use taxpayer money to pay for gender-affirming surgeries for people who are in state jail.
The Kentucky Department of Corrections asked the state’s Republican attorney general for his opinion before making changes to its rules about how prisoners can get medical care.
Coleman was asked if the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment means that the department has to pay for transgender people in jail to have surgeries that change their gender when doctors say the surgery is “medically necessary.”
Coleman said in his opinion that it was not “cruel and unusual” for the department to refuse to spend public money on controversial medical procedures. “Thank goodness there isn’t a main law that forces the department to stop using common sense.”
Coleman said that the answer should “finally” settle the matter.
“It was crazy to think that Kentucky taxpayers should have to pay for convicted criminals to have gender-reassignment surgery,” he said.
As the head of the Kentucky-based LGBTQ+ activist group Fairness Campaign, Chris Hartman, put it, the attorney general’s decision was “disappointing but predictable.”
Harman said in a statement, “All prisoners get the medical care they need, whether they have cancer, diabetes, or another illness.” “Inmates who are transgender shouldn’t be treated differently.” When in the care of the state, it is federal law that inmates must get medical care when it is medically necessary. For transgender inmates, gender-affirming surgery is sometimes medically required.
The problem came up at a recent meeting of a legislative committee. This is because the corrections department is trying to update rules so that they meet federal standards for making more accommodations for transgender people in prison. Some Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature didn’t like what the department was doing.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reported that the department’s proposed new rules would give transgender people in jail more protections by making sure they have access to the right medical and mental health services and are housed in facilities that match their gender identity. If someone asks for gender-affirming care, the changes set up a process that includes thorough mental health assessments and maybe even medical measures.
On Thursday, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said that he appreciated the answer from the attorney general and that the proposed rule would be changed to include Coleman’s office’s opinion.
Beshear, a Democrat who is thought to be a possible presidential candidate in 2028, said that LGBTQ+ people in jail may be more likely to be abused and may have different health care needs.
In early 2018, a transgender woman who was assaulted by a prisoner while living in a men’s unit at an Arizona prison was awarded $10,000 in a federal civil rights case.
The federal law says that LGBTQ+ people in prison must have safety measures and medical care, Beshear said.
“But it has its limits, just like medical care for any prisoner,” Beshear told reporters. “In the end, we think about what makes sense.” And I think it’s fair that an inmate, no matter what gender they are, should never have better access to health care than a civil citizen who follows the rules.
Beshear said that Kentucky needs to find a way to give health care to people in jail while also being fair to taxpayers.
“It looks like federal law requires some level of care, but not those surgeries,” he said. “So I think you will see in the regulation some of the care that is given to different groups, including transgender people.” It would be against the law and against the Constitution to not give any expert care at all. We’re going to look for the right mix.
The Kentucky Republican Party said bad things about Beshear’s administration’s handling of the problem on Thursday.
Since he is governor, he is in charge of the rules and laws that his government makes. Andy Westberry, the communications director for the state GOP, said in a statement, “He’s either running this administration or he’s not.”
Steve West, a Republican state senator, thanked the attorney general for making the problem “clear.” He also said that the opinion was in line with “legal precedent and the practical expectations of Kentuckians.”
He said in a statement, “Going forward, I urge the department to be more open with lawmakers and the public as we work to make sure that policies are carried out responsibly and in a way that is in line with the law.”
KY is one of many places that have limited or banned care for transgender people. Transgender teens and young adults in Kentucky were not allowed to get gender-affirming medical care in 2023. The state legislature decided in 2022 that transgender girls and women from sixth grade through college could not play school sports that match their gender identity.
Source: Kentucky attorney general finds no requirement to use tax dollars to pay for inmate gender surgeries
