Supreme Court Won't Consider Wisconsin Antitransgender Law

The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear a case against the state of Wisconsin after a lower court ruled that the state's law banning medically necessary treatment for transgender people in prison is unconstitutional.

The state passed the Inmate Sex-Change Prevention Act in 2005, prohibiting doctors in state-run prisons from providing transition-related care such as hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery, according to Lambda Legal.

The organization, along with the American Civil Liberties Union, filed a lawsuit against the state on behalf of several transgender inmates. The women were experiencing physical and psychological harm after their medical treatment was suddenly cut off because of the law.

A federal district court ruled in favor of the transgender women, and a court of appeals upheld the ruling. The state attempted to appeal, but the U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that the court would not hear the case, thereby allowing the lower courts' rulings to stand.

Last year the Federal Bureau of Prisons changed its policy to now allow treatment for transgender people in federal prisons.