BOSTON, April 2 (UPI) -- Massachusetts officials asked a federal appeals court Tuesday to overturn an order providing a taxpayer-funded sex change operation for a transgender inmate.
Michelle Kosilek, born Robert Kosilek and found guilty in 1993 of killing his wife, underwent sex change surgery after U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf ordered the procedure in 2012 to correct Kosilek's gender identity disorder.
The state went to court Tuesday to argue the cost of the surgery was an unfair burden on taxpayers, New England Cable News reported.
Kosilek's attorney, Frances Cohen, disputed the alleged burden in an interview outside the court room, saying, "There's been no evidence of what it (the surgery) would cost. The Department of Corrections purchases its services under a capitation contract, which means 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. There's been no showing (sex change surgery) would move the needle at all."
The court is expected to rule in three months, NECN said.
