Decision Reached on Whether Bradley Manning Will Get Treatment To Become ‘Chelsea Manning’…
On Thursday morning in a segment on NBC’s Today, Pfc. Bradley Manning’s attorney announced that his client would seek treatment in prison to become a woman and preferred to be called “Chelsea” from then on. Manning was convicted in a military court on Wednesday of giving Wikileaks access to sensitive government documents and was sentenced to 35 years in a federal prison for his involvement in the crime. On Thursday, hours after Manning’s attorney’s announcement, the federal officials announced that there are no plans to allow Manning access to hormone treatment in prison.
“Manning has declared her intention to begin a gender transition with hormones, but it’s not clear how she will manage to do this, because the military does not allow hormone treatment or further surgeries to realize a sex change,” ABC News reported.
Department of Defense spokeswoman Catherine T. Wilkinson told ABC News today that “there is a mechanism in place for the U.S. military to provide hormone therapy or gender-reassignment surgery for inmates.
“This is America — we do not deny health care to prisoners,” executive director of the National Center on Transgender Equality, Mara Keisling, told ABC News. She added that the military’s decision to deny hormone treatment to Manning may be a violation of the 8th Amendment which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.
h/t ABC News
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