This story originally appeared on The Advocate.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration’s bid to restrict gender-affirming care for transgender people in federal prisons, preserving access while a legal challenge continues.
The policy would have ended surgeries, gradually withdrawn hormone treatment, and eliminated accommodations including wigs and makeup. Mental health services would remain available.
About 600 incarcerated people received hormone therapy in 2025, according to Bureau of Prisons court filings.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ordered treatment to continue, warning that untreated gender dysphoria can cause depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. The administration appealed, citing security concerns.
The order in Trump v. Kingdom leaves a lower court’s order blocking the restrictions intact. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas would have allowed enforcement. Chief Justice John Roberts, who issued the order, did not explain the Court’s reasoning.
Advocates cheered the High Court’s order.
"Gender-affirming care is healthcare, said Destination Tomorrow founder and CEO Sean Ebony Coleman. “At a time when Trans rights are being challenged and threatened daily, protecting access to care is a matter of basic human dignity. While we welcome today’s Supreme Court decision, protecting access to gender-affirming care should never have been a question in the first place."
Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson also reacted with cautious optimism.
“Today, trans people in federal prisons can keep getting the care they need. Denying access to critical medical care for incarcerated people simply because they are trans is discriminatory, cruel, and flies in the face of our Eighth Amendment protections,” Robinson said in a statement to The Advocate. “Trump and MAGA extremists are obsessed with targeting our community and undermining access to essential healthcare, defying the recommendations of every major medical association in the country."
Related: Transgender prisoners ask U.S. Supreme Court to stop Trump from taking their medical care
The ruling leaves the underlying lawsuit unresolved but keeps a lower court’s protection in place against restrictions adopted following President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting care for transgender people held in federal custody. A doctor told The Advocate that removing this care from trans prisoners is “a dangerous thing to do.”
“This decision protects incarcerated trans people from the administration’s attempt to steamroll over constitutional rights for now, but the fight to uphold the dignity and respect our community deserves is far from over,” Robinson said.
