California prison ordered to pay for inmate's sex change surgery

WebMD-

With gender dysphoria, the discomfort with your male or female body can be so intense that it can interfere with the way you function in normal life, for instance at school or work or during social activities.

Gender dysphoria used to be called “gender identity disorder.” But the mismatch between body and internal sense of gender is not a mental illness. Instead, what need to be addressed are the stress, anxiety, and depression that go along with it.

That last bit makes me wonder why a mental condition that is not classified as an "Illness" would "go along" with "stress, anxiety, and depression". Seems more like a social illness; that's to say that this persons illness is caused by the attitude and actions of those around her.

"The weight of the evidence demonstrates that for Norsworthy, the only adequate medical treatment for her gender dysphoria is SRS, that the decision not to address her persistent symptoms was medically unacceptable under the circumstances..."

Seems like the only cures are to either change your gender, or change societies attitude toward. Clearly, in this day and age, it's easier to do the latter.

Also, this person has already been sentenced to confinement within a state penitentiary. Under the laws that already exist, prisoners are entitled to treatment for medical(including mental) healthcare(which is still not enough). She wasn't sentenced to be confined and forced to live with a "severe"[from the article] case of a common medical condition. which makes-

"[the] [California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation] denied her the necessary treatment for reasons unrelated to her medical need,"

seem pretty spot on.

Additionally, I don't think that paying taxes gives people the right to decide how urgent someone's medical need is just because that person is held by the state.

/r/news Thread Link - ashingtonpost.com