CHICAGO – On Tuesday, attorneys for Cristina Nichole Iglesias filed a response to the federal Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) decision to approve Ms. Iglesias for gender-affirming surgery—but delay referring her to a surgeon for an initial consultation until mid-April 2022 at the earliest. The filing follows a December federal court order compelling BOP to evaluate Ms. Iglesias for surgery after decades of suffering from inadequate medical care while in federal custody. The following can be attributed to the ACLU of Illinois:
“After years of courageous advocacy by Cristina, the federal Bureau of Prisons has finally agreed that she needs gender-affirming surgery. BOP’s plan to delay referring Cristina to a surgeon for months, however, is inadequate and seeks to run out the clock. We have asked to court to make sure that Cristina immediately gets the health care that all parties now agree she needs.
To date, no transgender person in BOP custody has ever received gender-affirming surgery. It is long past time for this continued denial of care to end.”
