State senators passed a bill Tuesday aimed at preventing Wisconsin prisoners from receiving state funds for gender reassignment treatments, including hormonal treatment and sex changes.

Proponents say Senate Bill 88, dubbed the “Inmate Sex Change Protection Act,” was passed because taxpayer money should not be used to fund any type of medical therapy allowing the reassignment of gender for state prisoners.

State Sen. Ted Kanavas, R-Brookfield, an author of the bill, said such a procedure should be paid for by the individuals wishing to receive the therapy, rather than taxpayers.

“We have a responsibility to be financially [accountable],” Kanavas said. “Wisconsin has spent about $800-$1000 a month for such drugs … and I don’t think [sex change therapy] is a good way to spend public money.”

The legislation was originally introduced by state Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, after a Wisconsin prisoner sued the state for halting the continuation of his sex gender transformation surgery.

The prisoner, Donna Kronitzer, born Scott Kronitzer, is suing the state for not completing the sexual reassignment process that would ultimately give the inmate female genitals.

Suder says the bill will ensure that the state will not change their mind and complete Kronitzer’s sex change with taxpayer money. According to Suder, citizens of Wisconsin should not be paying for therapy that private health care plans do not even cover.

“No private healthcare plan pays for this and it baffles me why we’re giving this therapy to prisoners,” Suder said. “We want this policy to end to make sure state taxpayers aren’t paying for it.”

The payment for such therapy with state money goes back at least 10 years, and is a policy of the Department of Corrections, according to Suder.

Under current law, medical services, including hormonal therapy, are provided for residents in state prisons as well as forensic patients housed in state institutions. But the extension of medical treatment involving sexual reassignment is the “most ridiculous program” seen in the state government, Suder said.

“Prisons should serve as institutions of punishment — this is the worst case of ‘Extreme Makeover’ I’ve ever heard of,” he added.

Some, however, believe the restriction of the hormonal treatment to state prisoners is an infringement on the rights of people with gender identity disorder.

Gender identity disorder is a psychological illness that, if left untreated, could lead to genital mutilation, severe depression or other symptoms, according to the Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders.

UW Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Director Eric Trekell said while he is not transgender himself and cannot possibly understand what an individual with gender identification disorder might be going through, he supports state funds for these individuals.

“I work with transgender people, and when I have a student in my office saying ‘I think I need to be a woman,’ I can’t argue with that,” Trekell said. “If that’s what someone really believes they are, it seems like a minor thing [for the state to pay for].”

Trekell added that providing the therapy for these prisoners could ultimately aid in their rehabilitation, which may benefit the state.

“Perhaps this [therapy] needs to be part of the rehabilitation — if our society was more supportive of gender identity disorders and tried to help people with that, maybe [the individuals] wouldn’t find themselves in prison,” Trekell said.

Suder said a public hearing will be held to discuss the bill Apr. 20 and the state Assembly expects to pass the legislation this month.