Sponsors (6)
The bill trades clearer, lower-cost prison placement and medical spending for restricting gender-affirming care and excluding gender identity from the legal definition of gender, which is likely to harm transgender prisoners' health and rights and raise legal and safety risks.
Prisoners will be housed and transported according to a single, biological-sex rule, reducing placement ambiguity and creating uniform administrative standards.
Taxpayers and the Bureau of Prisons will likely see reduced medical expenditures because the BOP will not cover the gender-related medical treatments described in the bill.
Transgender prisoners will be denied access to gender-affirming medical care the BOP currently provides, worsening physical and mental health outcomes.
Transgender individuals in custody will have their rights and equal-treatment protections undermined by excluding gender identity and expression from the definition of gender, potentially conflicting with medical standards and non-discrimination norms.
Prisoners and the Bureau of Prisons will face increased legal risks and potential litigation costs because denying gender-related medical care may prompt lawsuits, increasing taxpayer liability.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Introduced February 5, 2025 by Nancy Mace · Last progress February 5, 2025
Directs the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to house and transport incarcerated people only with others of the same "biological sex" and bars the BOP from furnishing or paying for specified "gender-related medical treatment." It defines "biological sex," narrows "gender" to mean sex, and lists excluded medical conditions (certain disorders of sex development and care needed for harms caused by prior gender-related treatment). Applies "notwithstanding any other provision of law" to override other authorities; the text sets no funding, effective date, or implementation deadlines. The change affects placement, movement, and medical-care policies inside federal prisons and directly impacts transgender and intersex people in BOP custody, BOP staff, and health providers who treat incarcerated patients.