Should Taxpayers Be Forced to Pay for Inmates' Sex Change Operations?

An inmate sits in a Massachusetts Correction Department correction center. He is a convicted murderer and was sentenced to life in prison after he killed his wife in 1990. Robert Kosilek was his name until he changed to Michelle. Why? He wants to have sex change. Michelle is in a court battle going on in Massachusetts for the right to obtain a sex change operation. The catch is that taxpayers would have to foot the bill.

The trial started more than a year ago and has already cost a whopping $52,000 in expert testimony alone. The judge in the case even had to hire himself an expert consultant to make sense of all the testimony and medical information. Many people might say that giving an inmate a sex change operation is like allowing them to have plastic surgery, a superficial surgery. However, advocates of the sex change operation are calling it a medical necessity. Those who are diagnosed with gender identity disorder are said to suffer a lot of mental health issues.

In 2002, U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf ruled that Kosilek should be allowed to get treatment for gender identity disorder. This disorder includes depression and suicidal thoughts. Kosilek sued again in 2005 because the psychotherapy, laser hair removal, and hormone treatments were still not helping the depression. Kosilek has attempted suicide twice during his stint in jail.

Kosilek security has also come into the courtroom, stating that if he has the surgery than he will be a security nightmare. He will be hard to place in either a men's or a women's facility. However, most jails have a separate "block" or section that houses child abusers, child molesters and others who are at more of a risk in jail.

This is actually a hugely debated subject in the Corrections systems across the country. Most insurance companies even consider sex change operations an elective surgery. What's next, a person who is obese is going to get liposuction for free after they murdered someone?