50 MA lawmakers push to appeal convicted murderer's sex change s - ABC6 - Providence, RI and New Bedford, MA News, Weather

50 MA lawmakers push to appeal convicted murderer's sex change surgery

By News Staff

news@abc6.com

BOSTON (AP) - Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren is joining a chorus of elected officials criticizing a federal court ruling ordering Massachusetts prison officials to provide sex-reassignment surgery to a transgender inmate serving a life sentence for murder.

        During an interview Friday on WTKK-FM, Warren said she didn't think the ruling was ``a good use of taxpayer dollars.''

        Warren's political rival, Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown has called the decision ``an outrageous abuse of taxpayer dollars.''

        As a state senator, Brown filed unsuccessful legislation to ban the use of tax money to pay for the surgery for prison inmates.

        A group of 50 Massachusetts legislators this week asked the state Department of Correction to appeal the ruling.

        U.S. District Court Judge Mark Wolf ruled Tuesday that the state must provide the surgery.