A judge in Indiana has decided that the sex reassignment surgery of a convict who killed an 11-month-old baby must be paid for by taxpayers.
Born Jonathan C. Richardson, whose prison name is now Autumn Cordellionè, was found guilty of murder by strangulation in 2001 and is currently serving a 55-year jail term. The Stepdaughter of Cordellionè was the unfortunate victim.
Since “persistent gender dysphoria” has no other treatment options, the prisoner has decided to undergo sex reassignment surgery, which includes orchiectomy and vaginoplasty.
Prisons in Indiana cannot pay for gender reassignment surgery, according to the state’s policy.
On Cordellionè’s behalf, however, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the Indiana Department of Corrections, claiming that the statute in question infringed upon the Eighth Amendment’s ban on “cruel and unusual punishment “.
The suit filed in 2023 claims that Cordellionè has known she is a woman since she was six years old, but that she did not receive a diagnosis of gender dysphoria until 2020, after which she began taking hormone replacement therapy and medication to suppress her testosterone levels.
According to the lawsuit, Cordellionè has “consistently taken” the hormone pills since then and has also been provided with women’s “panties, make-up, and form-fitting clothing” while incarcerated in an all-male prison.
According to court documents, Cordellionè attempted castration and has a history of self-harm.
Step two in undergoing gender-affirming surgery, or sex reassignment, was deemed “a medical necessity” according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
“She believes that the only remedy for her persistent gender dysphoria, and the serious harm it causes her, is to receive gender-affirming surgery, specifically an orchiectomy and vaginoplasty,” it said in court filings.
It has now been acknowledged by an Indiana federal judge that the denial of the procedure would violate the constitution.
“Specifically, Ms Cordellioné has shown that her gender dysphoria is a serious medical need, and that, despite other treatments … provided her to treat her gender dysphoria, she requires gender-affirming surgery to prevent a risk of serious bodily and psychological harm,” Judge Richard Young said in his ruling.
He gave the go-ahead for the Indiana Department of Corrections to do “all reasonable actions” to get the killer the sex transplant.