The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to freeze a lower-court order blocking restrictions on gender-affirming care in federal prisons while litigation continues. The policy halts surgeries, hormones and social accommodations but allows mental health therapy.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ordered the government to keep providing gender-affirming care, including hormone therapy, and a divided appeals-court panel left his order in place. The administration argues the policy was properly adopted and Lamberth overstepped. The Bureau of Prisons said in 2025 it was providing hormone therapy to more than 600 inmates.
Lamberth wrote that the Bureau does not dispute gender dysphoria can cause severe side effects, including depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. ACLU attorneys for the inmates said the policy threatens their well-being and fundamental rights, and argued that withholding necessary care is cruel and unusual punishment. The Supreme Court has previously upheld state laws restricting certain treatments for transgender youth and transgender athletes’ participation in women’s sports. It has also temporarily allowed other Trump administration rollbacks affecting transgender military personnel and passports matching gender identity.
