Harris' Response To Question On Gender-Affirming Surgery For Inmates Criticised: 'She Deflected

Fox News anchor Bret Baier questioned Vice President Kamala Harris about taxpayer-funded sex-change operations for prison inmates in an interview, sparking controversy over her stance on the issue. In response, Harris stated that previous President Donald Trump's administration was in charge when the measures were first put into effect. Harris has defended prisoners' access to care that is gender affirming in spite of the criticism, a topic of discussion that arose during her time serving as California's attorney general. While serving a life sentence in California, Skylar Deleon, a convicted killer known as the "Yacht Killer," just had gender-affirming surgery. In 2004, Deleon, real name John Jacobson Jr., murdered Thomas and Jackie Hawks. Leon enticed the couple onto their boat under the guise of a possible buyer, stunned them with a stun gun, made them sign a transfer of ownership, tied them to an anchor, and threw them overboard. Last year, Deleon's sex-change operation was paid for by California taxpayers. Deleon, who is now 45, is awaiting transfer to a women's institution following the procedure. Policies in California have made it possible for prisoners to obtain care that is gender affirming, such as hormone therapy and operations. Prior to Harris's election as attorney general in 2010, this project was started, and it grew throughout her leadership. Another convicted killer, Jeffrey Bryan Norsworthy, filed a lawsuit in 2015 seeking state funding for gender surgery. A federal judge ruled in favor of Norsworthy, citing California law's requirement for critical healthcare. Attorney General Harris at the time, Harris contested the surgical procedure's medical necessity, but he chose not to appeal the judge's verdict. Later, Norsworthy's release was authorized by Governor Jerry Brown.Rodney Quine, a killer serving a life sentence in California, has filed a lawsuit seeking government funding for gender surgery. Following a settlement in the lawsuit, the state was ordered to pay Quine's surgical expenses as well as his legal fees. California became the first state to guarantee transgender prisoners may undergo sex-change treatments when its policy was expanded in spite of objections. Genital reconstruction and mastectomies were among the covered procedures. Citing her involvement in strengthening California's rules, Harris backed gender-affirming care for convicts during her 2020 Democratic presidential primary campaign. Later, she promised to give transgender and non-binary people in federal detention complete transition-related treatment. Since then, the California jail system has disclosed that from 2017 to 2022, the number of convicts identifying as transgender or nonbinary increased by 234%. Despite having insufficient resources to meet demand, the administration anticipates that over 460 convicts will seek such procedures in 2024. Throughout the present campaign, Harris and her running partner, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, have refrained from making long remarks on the subject. Michael Tyler, a spokesman for Harris's campaign, has made it clear that the policies Harris supported when running for president do not align with her current agenda. The campaign of the former president Trump, meantime, attacked Harris's stance in commercials, portraying her as disengaged from common American issues. According to Trump's staff, Harris's policies support special interests at the expense of the general public.