On October 13, 2020, the United States Supreme Court denied Idaho’s request to review a federal district court decision ordering Idaho to provide medically necessary gender confirmation surgery to Adree Edmo, a transgender woman prisoner. The Supreme Court’s decision makes final the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho’s ruling that gender confirmation surgery was constitutionally required medical treatment for Ms. Edmo
In 2017, Ms. Edmo filed suit against the Idaho Department of Corrections (IDOC) and its private medical provider, Corizon, for denying her gender confirmation surgery despite her severe gender dysphoria and urgent need for this life-saving treatment. Ms. Edmo attempted to castrate herself twice while in IDOC custody.
In December 2018, the District Court found that IDOC’s refusal to provide Ms. Edmo gender confirmation surgery to treat her severe gender dysphoria was cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment and ordered the prison to provide her surgery. In August 2019, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal unanimously upheld the District Court ruling and ordered the surgery to go forward.
Ms. Edmo received gender confirmation surgery in July 2020, following the Supreme Court’s denial of IDOC’s request to delay the surgery while it considered whether to accept the case for review. She is now in a women’s prison. In Ms. Edmo’s words, “It’s just a great relief. So much pressure and inner turmoil is gone. I feel whole and connected. The surgery itself was literally life-changing, and I feel whole and connected in myself.
Ms. Edmo is represented by HSRD LLP and co-counsel Rifkin Law Offices, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Ferguson Durham, LLC. Cooley LLP, Jenner & Block LLP, and the MacArthur Justice Center also represented Ms. Edmo before the U.S. Supreme Court.
SCOTUS Orders:
https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/101320zor_8m58.pdf.
National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) Press Release:
MEDIA:
#SCOTUS #NCLR # adreeedmo #LGBTQ