1. United States
2. Ill.
3. Letter

I am writing to demand immediate investigation into a Bureau of Prisons policy affecting approximately 2,200 transgender people in federal custody. This policy appears to constitute state-sanctioned conversion therapy and may violate the Nuremberg Code governing ethical human experimentation. The BOP policy, released by the Trump administration, denies transgender prisoners access to medically necessary healthcare and mandates treatment targeting psychological distress through psychotherapy and psychotropic medication until gender dysphoria is marked as resolved. The policy explicitly designates gender dysphoria as a mental illness requiring routine mental health care. This approach has been rejected by every major US medical association and recognized by the United Nations as a form of torture. Large portions of this policy were copied from Florida's September 2024 policy but with critical modifications. The BOP added language about helping trans people progress toward recovery and eliminating negative outcomes, suggesting transition itself is the negative outcome to be eliminated. The policy incorporates terminology exclusively used by the Department of Health and Human Services, including sex trait modification and sex rejection, indicating HHS involvement in crafting conversion therapy protocols. Unlike the Florida policy, the Trump administration's version makes no exceptions. All trans people in federal custody will be forcibly tapered off gender-affirming care, even those who no longer produce their own sex hormones. This creates potentially devastating health consequences for a captive population unable to refuse treatment. This policy creates a closed system for human experimentation. Trans prisoners are forcibly treated under a conversion model, denied necessary care, assigned a measurable outcome of resolved dysphoria, and their outcomes electronically recorded. This violates at least seven points of the Nuremberg Code, including lack of voluntary consent, causing unnecessary suffering, and inadequate safeguards against harm. Research consistently shows conversion therapy increases suicidal ideation, depression, and PTSD. I urge you to immediately investigate this policy and, if accurate, take all available legislative and oversight action to shut down this program. Over 2,000 people should not be subjected to practices that constitute torture.