(NECN) - Massachusetts prison officials are asking a federal appeals court to overturn an order to provide taxpayer funded sex change operation to a trans-gender inmate. Michelle Kosilek, formerly Robert Kosilek, is serving a life sentence for the murder of his wife.
In September, a Massachusetts judge ordered a sex change surgery to correct Kosilek's gender identity disorder. Tuesday, the state argued it's an unfair burden to taxpayers. Kosilek’s attorney, however, argued otherwise.
“There's been no evidence of what it would cost. The department of corrections purchases its services under a capitation contract which means that you pay so much based on the number, not on the basis of surgeries but on the basis of the number of inmates in the system. And there's been no showing that it would move the needle at all to add the coverage for sexual reassignment surgery."
The court is expected to rule in three months.
