Chelsea Manning’s hunger strike is over and will get gender transition surgery

Chelsea Manning ended her hunger strike that started on September 9th and will in fact receive the gender transition surgery according to her lawyers. Manning’s lawyer recently conducted an interview with CNN:

The government’s refusal to treat her for her condition led to a suicide attempt in July, her lawyers said.

Manning began a hunger strike on September 9 to demand treatment and access to medically prescribed recommendations for her condition. The development means Manning will become the first transgender person to receive gender affirming surgical treatment in prison, according to the ACLU, which is representing Manning.

Manning’s case is more than likely following in the foot steps of Michelle Lael-Norsworthy after she battled the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) for her operation after being on hormone therapy for 15 years before being paroled. In April 2015, a federal court in San Francisco ruled that keeping Norsworthy from receiving the gender transition surgery is “cruel and unusual punishment,” therefore it violates the eighth amendment.

Is this setting a precedent? Go to jail and get a gender transition operation that you could not afford as a law abiding citizen?

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