US Supreme Court rebuffs Trump administration restrictions on medical care for transgender inmates

The Korea Times - Oct 22, 2026

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to allow the Trump administration to immediately enforce new medical restrictions for transgender people in federal prison. The decision leaves in place a lower-court block on the policy. It was adopted after an executive order from President Donald Trump, a Republican who has taken several steps to roll back transgender rights during his second term. The brief order did not detail its legal reasoning. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas would have allowed the policy to be enforced as the lawsuit played out in lower courts. The Supreme Court has previously allowed other Trump administration policies for transgender people to move ahead for now, including restrictions on military service and passport sex markers. Trump's order called on the Bureau of Prisons to revise its medical care policies so that federal funds aren’t spent “for the purpose of conforming an inmate’s appearance to that of the opposite sex.” The new policy would halt surgeries, taper off hormones and end social accommodations like makeup and wigs. Prison

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