Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow denial of gender-affirming care to trans federal inmates
The US government has asked the Supreme Court to let it deny gender-affirming care to transgender inmates in federal prisons while litigation continues in lower courts.
Solicitor General D John Sauer filed an emergency request with the Supreme Court on Monday, seeking permission for the government to deny certain gender dysphoria-related care to transgender federal inmates. The request covers sex-trait-modification surgeries, hormone therapy, and accommodations such as undergarments, makeup and wigs.
Sauer argued that such measures could no longer be justified as treatment for gender dysphoria. The filing stems from a legal fight over an executive order Trump signed in January 2025, directing the Bureau of Prisons to ensure no federal funds go toward medical procedures, treatment or drugs intended to conform an inmate's appearance to the opposite sex. The order also required transgender women to be housed in men's facilities.
Transgender inmates sued over the policy, and two lower courts have so far blocked the administration from enforcing the order while the broader lawsuit proceeds.
Broader pattern
During his second term, Trump has moved to restrict transgender rights more broadly, rolling back Biden-era policies that had allowed transgender women and girls to compete on sports teams matching their gender identity, transgender individuals to serve in the military, and transgender minors to access gender-affirming care.
Sauer contended the government has been harmed by being barred from implementing measures prison administrators deem necessary for institutional security, citing Bureau of Prisons findings that broader access to gender-affirming care raises fairness concerns and breeds resentment among other inmates.
Justices have given lawyers for the transgender inmates until 8 October to respond. The Supreme Court has generally sided with the administration on related matters, having already allowed the State Department to remove preferred gender markers from passports for nonbinary or transgender Americans and permitted the Defense Department to enforce its ban on transgender service members. Last term, the court also upheld state-level bans on gender-affirming care for transgender minors and on transgender athletes competing on women's sports teams.
