A statue of frontier surgeon Eprhaim McDowell looked on as the Kentucky Fairness Rally for LGBTQ Rights drew a crowd to the Capitol Rotunda on Feb. 15. (Photo for Kentucky Lantern by Sarah Ladd)
A Kentucky judge has declined to issue a preliminary injunction in a case challenging a new state law that blocks the use of public funds for inmates’ elective medical treatments and takes 67 transgender inmates off hormone therapy.
U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove said in his Friday ruling that the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, which is representing an incarcerated person, “has not shown at this preliminary stage a constitutional violation that warrants enjoining the enforcement.”
Court documents say the ACLU’s client, Maddilyn Marcum, was “diagnosed with gender dysphoria and placed on HRT five years prior” to incarceration. HRT refers to hormone replacement therapy. The ruling says that the client was ineligible to receive HRT post sentencing due to not being on it when entering Department of Corrections custody.
“This decision is disappointing, but we will continue to litigate our case on behalf of Ms. Marcum and all transgender people who are incarcerated in Kentucky.” Corey Shapiro, legal director for the ACLU of Kentucky, said in a statement. “We will continue to demonstrate to the court how this cruel policy violates our clients’ right to receive medically necessary healthcare.”
The ACLU is challenging Senate Bill 2 from the 2025 legislative session, saying it violates the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits the use of cruel and unusual punishment.
The law, a high priority in the Republican-controlled legislature, says public dollars cannot be used to fund a “cosmetic service or elective procedure” for Kentucky inmates. It also says if a health care provider documents that ending a treatment would harm an inmate, use of the drug or hormone may be “systematically reduced and eliminated.”
Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, let it become law without his signature.
The case will continue, an ACLU spokeswoman said. This ruling means the law will be in effect as the case makes its way through the courts.
This story may be updated.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX