US: Appeals court overturns ruling that trans inmate must have gender reassignment surgery

In a blow for a trans inmate, an appeals court has overturned a previous ruling which said she should be given gender reassignment surgey whilst in prison.

Michelle Kosilkek in 2012 won a court case against prison officials, and the ruling meant she should be given gender reassignment surgery for her gender dysphoria.

And the decision was later upheld by a three-judge panel of the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals.

After a re-hearing, however, the court has now overturned the previous decision, after the prison officials appealed to the full court.

The 1st Circuit ruled that Kosilek had not demonstrated that her Eighth Amendment rights had been violated, and that she had not proven that officials had subjected her to “cruel and unusual punishment” in not providing the surgery.