1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

The February 19 Bureau of Prisons policy forcing transgender inmates off hormone therapy is medical torture. I need you to take immediate action to reverse this guidance and ensure incarcerated people receive the same standard of care available in the community. This is not cosmetic treatment. Hormone therapy is evidence-based care for gender dysphoria, recognized by every major medical organization. Removing it causes immediate harm: cognitive changes, mood destabilization, brain fog. Long-term consequences include increased cardiovascular disease risk, bone metabolism problems, and diabetes. For those who have had gender-confirmation surgeries, the danger is acute because their bodies cannot produce hormones naturally. The policy violates the Eighth Amendment. Courts have repeatedly held that deliberate indifference to serious medical needs constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. A federal judge already issued a preliminary injunction in Kingdom v. Trump requiring the BOP to continue providing hormone therapy. This guidance directly violates that court order. Transgender people are incarcerated at four times the rate of the general population and already face astronomical rates of sexual abuse in prison. Stripping their medical care will only increase their vulnerability to violence. Medical care and mental health are not conditional on where someone is held. Stop this policy now.