Judiciary Committee reports favorably on bill limiting gender‑affirming care for incarcerated people

The Kentucky Senate Judiciary Committee on an unspecified date reported Senate Bill 2 favorably with an expression of opinion that "the same should pass," advancing a measure that would bar state correctional facilities from providing gender‑reassignment surgeries and tightly limit hormone therapy for incarcerated people.

Sponsor Senator Mike Wilson (District 32) said the bill "basically states that if you're incarcerated, you're not entitled to have cross *** hormones or *** change operations to change your *** from 1 to another, male to female, female to male." He told the committee he sought to put the restriction into statute to prevent the Department of Corrections from providing those services by memo or internal policy.

Supporters and opponents said the bill matters because it addresses care provided inside jails and prisons and because it raises constitutional and medical questions. Chris Hartman, executive director of the…