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Adree Edmo is one step closer to becoming the first inmate to receive a gender confirmation surgery in Idaho as the result of a court order.
After years of struggling with gender identity, attempting suicide and trying castration twice in an all-male Idaho prison, a court ruled that Edmo should be provided the surgery. After that, Edmo will serve the remainder of the sentence at a women's correctional facility.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision is the first time that an appeals court has ordered the state to pay for such a procedure. Denying Edmo surgery was in violation of Eighth Amendment rights, the court ruled, which prohibit "cruel and unusual punishment." Five other inmates have requested the procedure in 2019, CBS reports.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, has vowed to appeal the case.
"The court's decision is extremely disappointing," Little said in a statement. "The hard-working taxpayers of Idaho should not be forced to pay for a convicted sex offender's gender reassignment surgery when it is contrary to the medical opinion of the treating physician and multiple mental health professionals."
Edmo pleaded guilty in 2012 to sexual abuse of a 15-year-old boy at a house party. Edmo was 21 years old at the time of the crime, according to court documents. Edmo is on track to complete her sentence by July 2021, according to the Idaho Department of Correction.
Lori Rifkin, one of Edmo's attorneys, believes the governor's statement is false and hints at transphobic prejudice.
"The contract Idaho has with Corizon already covers necessary medical care," Rifkin said. "This is a false statement by the governor that this would cost the taxpayers any money."
The state of Idaho has a $46 million-a-year contract with Corizon Health, a private prison health-care contractor.
Marissa Morrison Hyer, press secretary for the governor, said the Corizon Health contract is funded by taxpayer dollars.
"The contract also includes a provision under which Corizon can seek costs associated with treatments or procedures not reasonably foreseen at the time the contract was awarded in 2013," she said in a statement.
It was not clear whether Corizon planned to request taxpayer dollars for the procedure. But according to KVAL-TV in Boise, the state has spent more than $300,000 to appeal the case in court.
Edmo's surgery is necessary, Rifkin says, and delaying it would cause more suffering and risk to her life. She says she's also concerned about the governor's reference to Edmo's conviction when speaking about her rights to a gender confirmation surgery.
Inside prison walls, perceived pedophiles are at high risk for harm. In 2015, The Associated Press reported that male sex offenders accounted for 30 percent of homicides in California prisons.
But Edmo is entitled to protections under the Constitution, advocates say, no matter the crimes. Kimberly Mckenzie, outreach director for the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, said the court's decision isn't a victory but a stance for basic human rights.
"I think the conversation should not be about who is the face of this, but that trans people deserve access to affirming health care," she said.
Rifkin, Edmo's attorney, said the case boils down to the Constitution and what its says about how prisoners should be treated.
"Everyone in prison is there because they've been convicted of a crime," she said. "There is no asterisk in the Constitution saying that because of a particular crime, they are excluded from constitutional protections."
Other transgender inmates across the country have received gender confirmation surgery that have included forms of public funding, but Edmo's case could set a precedent for the care given to transgender inmates, said Sarah Warbelow, the legal director for the Human Rights Campaign.
"I hope that this decision will encourage lawmakers, whether it's the Trump administration or state legislatures, to understand that being transgender is a part of the human condition," Warbelow said.
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