Trans inmate in prison for killing baby must get gender surgery at 'earliest opportunity': judge

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A federal district judge in Indiana has once again ordered the state Department of Correction (IDOC) to arrange a sex reassignment surgery for a transgender inmate convicted of reckless homicide of a baby, marking the latest development in the ongoing legal saga challenging an Indiana law banning the procedure.

The case, now in its second year, involves inmate Autumn Cordellioné's request for sex reassignment surgery. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) first filed the lawsuit against the Indiana Department of Corrections in 2023 on behalf of Cordellioné, challenging an Indiana law that prohibits the Department of Corrections from using taxpayer funds to cover sex reassignment surgeries for inmates. The ACLU argues the law is a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of "cruel and unusual punishment."

"The court ordered that the Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Correction should be preliminarily enjoined to take all reasonable actions to secure Ms. Cordellioné gender-affirming surgery at the earliest opportunity," Judge Richard Young, a Clinton appointee, wrote in a March 5 filing. "Ms. Cordellioné seeks to extend the injunction for the second time. For the reasons that follow, her motion to renew or extend preliminary injunction… is granted."

INDIANA JUDGE RULES PRISON MUST PROVIDE TRANSGENDER SURGERY FOR INMATE WHO KILLED BABY

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing the Indiana Department of Corrections on behalf of a transgender inmate, Jonathan C. Richardson, also known as Autumn Cordellionè, who was convicted of strangling his 11-month-old stepdaughter to death in 2001. (Indiana Department of Corrections/Getty Images)

Cordellioné, born Jonathan Richardson, sought out another injunction as the one issued in December last year expired on March 6, court documents show.

"In its Order granting the motion for preliminary injunction, the court acknowledged that 'surgery may take time as it will be provided by a surgeon who is not affiliated with either IDOC or its contracted medical provider. It is therefore the court's intention… to renew this preliminary injunction every 90 days until the surgery is provided,'" the document states.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has been defending the state's law and submitted a brief in January to a court of appeals defending Indiana’s law barring sex-change operations for inmates. The attorney general argued that the Eighth Amendment doesn’t require the state "to provide experimental treatments generally, and it certainly doesn’t here, when multiple doctors have said this inmate is a poor candidate for surgery," a spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

The brief also contends that the Indiana law, which went into effect in 2023, is not "sex discrimination" under the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause because it bans sexual reassignment surgeries across the board. 

"Convicted murderers don't get to demand that taxpayers foot the bill for expensive and controversial sex-change operations," Rokita told Fox News Digital. "It lacks all common sense. We won’t stop defending our state’s ban on using taxpayer funds to provide sex-change surgeries to prisoners."

ACLU SUES INDIANA OVER DENIAL OF SEX REASSIGNMENT SURGERY FOR INMATE WHO STRANGLED 11-MONTH-OLD TO DEATH

The ACLU argues that withholding sex reassignment surgeries amounts to a form of "cruel and unusual" punishment. Indiana's attorney general disagrees. (iStock)

In the ongoing case, a key issue was the evaluation by psychologist Kelsey Beers, who was tasked with assessing Cordellioné’s eligibility for sex-change surgery. 

Beers concluded that Cordellioné was not a suitable candidate for the surgery, stating that Cordellioné’s distress was not due to gender dysphoria but rather stemmed from her diagnoses of antisocial personality disorder and borderline personality disorder. 

Beers further noted that Cordellioné "displays an established pattern of attention-seeking behavior." 

Despite Beers' conclusions, the court ruled that her report did not justify reconsidering its decision and questioned Beers’ qualifications.

"In summary, the court finds that Dr. Beers' report does not present a significant factual development that would cause it to reconsider its grant of injunctive relief as to Ms. Cordellioné's Eighth Amendment claim," Young wrote. 

TRANS INMATE WHO KILLED BABY AND IDENTIFIES AS MUSLIM WOMAN SUES CHAPLAIN FOR ALLEGEDLY NOT ALLOWING HIJAB

U.S. courtrooms have become a central battleground in the fight waged by transgender activists for "gender affirming care." (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

The ACLU’s original lawsuit on behalf of Cordellioné asserts that the inmate was diagnosed with gender dysphoria in 2020, and has been prescribed female hormones and testosterone blockers, which Cordellioné has "consistently taken since that time." 

The lawsuit further claims that Cordellioné has been provided with accommodations such as "panties, makeup, and form-fitting clothing" while incarcerated.

The lawsuit states that gender-affirming surgery is now necessary for Cordellioné to alleviate the gender dysphoria. 

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"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," the filing explains.

According to the ACLU, Cordellioné, who has identified as a woman since age 6, is "a woman trapped in a man's body." 

In 2001, Cordellioné was convicted of strangling his then-wife’s 11-month-old daughter to death while she was at work. During an initial interview with police, Cordellioné was described as "calm and unemotional" while recounting the incident, according to court documents from Indiana's Court of Appeals.

Fox News Digital has reached out to IDOC for comment.