Trump begs Supreme Court to let feds withdraw medical care for trans prisoners: ‘A dangerous thing to do’

The Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to let federal prisons withdraw gender-affirming treatment from transgender people in their custody, seeking to suspend protections for medical care that prison clinicians had previously prescribed.The emergency application in Trump v. Kingdom asks the justices to pause an injunction blocking a Bureau of Prisons policy that prohibits new hormone treatment for gender dysphoria, directs clinicians to taper existing prescriptions, and removes gender-affirming clothing and other accommodations. The restrictions would take effect while the underlying legal challenge proceeds.Chief Justice John Roberts ordered the prisoners’ attorneys to respond by 4 p.m. October 8, according to the Supreme Court docket.The administration argues that prison officials should have broad discretion to decide how to treat gender dysphoria. The prisoners contend that officials cannot use that discretion to deny necessary care.Related: Trump just rolled out a cruel anti-trans prison policy doctors are calling ‘dangerous’A policy change with medical consequencesIssued in February, the bureau’s policy replaces access to gender-affirming treatment with an approach emphasizing psychotherapy, counseling, psychiatric services, and psychiatric medications. It prohibits gender-affirming surgery, although treatment for complications from previous surgeries would remain available.For people already receiving hormones, the policy calls for tapering plans that consider their treatment history, response to medication, and whether they have undergone surgery. It also directs officials, when practicable, to remove or confiscate items such as binders, wigs, makeup, and breast padding.Those changes followed President Donald Trump’s January 2025 executive order directing federal agencies to recognize only two sexes and prohibiting federal spending on treatments intended to align an incarcerated person’s appearance with their gender ident