In a first, California agrees to pay for transgender inmate's sex reassignment

http://www.latimes.com ^ | 8/10/15 | Paige St. John

[BBell]

California is first in the nation to agree to pay for a transgender inmate's sex reassignment operation, but the state's settlement of a recent court case sidesteps the question of whether such surgery is a constitutional right.

The state concedes that Shiloh Quine, who entered the California prison system in 1980 as Rodney, suffers severe gender dysphoria that can be treated only by physically conforming her body to her psychological gender.

"

The agreement to settle Quine's federal lawsuit seeking the surgery was announced late Friday, with a brief statement from the corrections department that "every medical doctor and mental health clinician who has reviewed this case, including two independent mental health experts, determined that this surgery is medically necessary for Quine."

Quine's victory was made possible by another inmate, Michelle Norsworthy, born as Jeffrey, who in April won a federal court order for surgery to reshape her genitals. Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday allowed a parole grant for Norsworthy instead, making that ruling moot days before an appellate panel was to hear California's legal challenge.

In both instances, California prison officials had denied the surgeries, arguing that sex reassignment was not medically necessary. The state's position was undermined in June when its own expert concluded that Quine required the operation.

"Sex reassignment surgery is medically necessary to prevent Ms. Quine from suffering significant illness or disability, and to alleviate severe pain caused by her gender dysphoria," wrote Richard Carroll, a clinical psychologist and director of the Sexual Disorders and Couple Therapy Program at Northwestern University in Chicago. Surgery, he said, would reduce her "depression, anxiety and risk of suicide attempts."

Waiting until she got out of prison was not an option. Quine is serving a life sentence without parole for murder.

"A settlement is not a precedent, but I suppose it gives a

[Salman]

It makes perfect sense in a way.

After all, inmates are not denied necessary medical care. Right?

So if some doctor says it's necessary ...

[pfflier]

suffers severe gender dysphoria that can be treated only by physically conforming her body to her psychological gender

So a mental illness can be fixed by surgery now?

[Mrs. Don-o]

Johns Hopkins research uncovered the fact, years ago, that gender-dysphoric people who "transition" attempt and successfully accomplish suicide MORE than the gender-dysphorics who do not "transition."

So Johns Hopkins stopped doing "transitions" decades ago.

AS for the rest of them: whatever happened to medical ethics?

h Surgeons who perform these genital mutilations should lose their licenses to practice. Criminal and civil charge might also be in order.

[Gen.Blather]

A surgeon said to me, (essentially), “surgery is as subject to fashion trends as hemlines. Different surgeries come and go and for the most part they don’t help the patients, but everybody is doing them. You have to watch for that.”

[West Texas Chuck]

Hold him down, I’ll give him a reassignment he’ll never forget.