Federal Judge Blocks Trump Order Halting Gender-Affirming Care in Prisons

A federal judge, Royce Lamberth, has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's executive order that mandated the Bureau of Prisons to cease providing gender-affirming hormone therapy, medical treatments, and accommodations to transgender inmates. Lamberth, appointed by Ronald Reagan, criticized the administration for lacking a reasoned explanation for treating gender dysphoria differently from other medical or mental health conditions and for failing to consider the harmful effects of denying transgender inmates necessary care. The judge's ruling extends injunctive relief to all transgender inmates with a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria, requiring the continuation of hormone therapy and gender-affirming accommodations as per prior policies. The order also highlighted constitutional concerns under the Administrative Procedure Act and the Eighth Amendment, emphasizing that the government cannot arbitrarily deprive inmates of medically appropriate treatments. This ruling counters Trump's policy aimed at stopping federal funds for procedures intended to alter inmates' appearances to the opposite sex, which also included restrictions on clothing and commissary items and the relocation of some transgender women to male facilities. The decision marks a significant legal setback for the administration's approach to transgender rights within the federal prison system.