Transgender soldier undergoes surgery paid for by Pentagon
An active-duty soldier underwent gender reassignment surgery covered by the Pentagon’s health care plan, the Defense Department confirmed.
The procedure came during a debate over allowing transgender troops to continue enlisting in the armed services.
Dana White, a Defense Department spokeswoman, said the procedure was done at a private facility after the soldier received a waiver from the Pentagon.
“Military hospitals do not have the surgical expertise to perform this type of surgery, therefore it was conducted in a private hospital,” White said in a statement.
The service member had previously begun gender reassignment treatments, White added. The head of the Defense Health Agency approved the waiver to cover the surgery because a doctor deemed it medically necessary.
The patient is a longtime infantry soldier who identifies as a woman, NBC News reported.
President Trump in July announced he would “not accept or allow” transgender soldiers to serve “in any capacity,” ending an Obama-era plan to lift a ban on the service members.
He wrote a formal letter to the Defense Department in August to extend the ban, and block federal funding for gender reassignment surgeries.
Top officials were also given six months to figure out how to address transgender troops already serving.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in September clarified that transgender citizens can still join the military, amid growing criticism throughout the country.
Trump’s decision sparked waves of protest and endured bipartisan backlash.
A federal judge last month blocked the majority of Trump’s transgender ban, with the exception of barring federal funds for surgeries.
The judge, Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, wasn’t convinced by the Trump administration’s argument that allowing transgenders to serve would “hinder military effectiveness and lethality, disrupt unit cohesion, or tax military resources.”
With News Wire Services
