Should a prisoner get a sex-change operation at the taxpayers’ expense? In a word - NO! That doesn’t stop ‘em from trying, though. You can go HERE for the whole story. I’ve selected some highlights:

Prisoner Seeks Sex-Change Operation
Massachusetts Case Tied Up Over Question of Who Pays for Surgery

By DENISE LAVOIE,AP

BOSTON (June 27) - A trial that opened more than a year ago has become bogged down in Boston federal court. There have been hundreds of hours of testimony from witnesses, including 10 medical specialists paid tens of thousands of dollars. The judge himself even hired an expert to help him make sense of it all.

The question at the center of the case: Should a murderer serving life in prison get a sex-change operation at taxpayer expense?

The case of Michelle - formerly Robert - Kosilek is being closely watched across the country by advocates for other inmates who want to undergo a sex change. Transgender inmates in other states have sued prison officials, and not one has succeeded in persuading a judge to order a sex-change operation.

The Massachusetts Correction Department is vigorously fighting Kosilek ’s request for surgery, saying it would create a security nightmare and make Kosilek a target for sexual assault.

An Associated Press review of the case, including figures obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests and interviews, found that the Correction Department and its outside health care provider have spent more than $52,000 on experts to testify about an operation that would cost about $20,000.

The duration and expense of the case have outraged some lawmakers who insist that taxpayers should not have to pay for inmates to have surgery that most private insurers reject as elective.

But advocates say in some cases - such as that of Kosilek , who has twice attempted suicide - sex-change surgery is as much a medical necessity as treatment for diabetes or high blood pressure. (emphasis mine)

. . . . Kosilek , 58, was convicted of strangling his wife in 1990. He claimed he killed her in self-defense after she spilled boiling tea on his genitals.

Robert Kosilek legally changed his name to Michelle in 1993, and has sued the Correction Department twice, arguing that its refusal to allow a sex-change operation violates the Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment.

In 2002, U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf ruled that Kosilek was entitled to medical treatment for gender identity disorder, but stopped short of ordering the surgery. Kosilek sued again in 2005, arguing that the hormone treatments, laser hair removal and psychotherapy she has received since Wolf’s ruling have not relieved her anxiety and depression.

“I would not want to continue existing like this,” Kosilek testified.

Kosilek ’s second trial, which began in May 2006, has featured expert testimony from 10 doctors, psychiatrists and psychotherapists. Wolf has not indicated when he will rule.

. . . . Those who argue against allowing the surgery say it could open the floodgates to other inmates who want sex-change operations or other treatments considered elective.

In Massachusetts, 10 inmates have been diagnosed with gender identity disorder and are receiving hormone treatments. Two other inmates besides Kosilek have asked for sex-change surgery.

. . . . Dennehy also said prison officials cannot be influenced by Kosilek ’s talk of suicide.

“The department does not negotiate or respond to threats of harm or suicide in an effort to barter,” she said. “You couldn’t run a prison with that kind of leveraging going on.”

I guess if they have their own money, they can pay to have the surgery done, but for the taxpayers’ to pay for it is ridiculous. I’m sure there are law-abiding folks out there who would like to have the surgery, but they can’t afford it. If it’s done for a prisoner, then all anyone would have to do is break the law, get put in prison and insist on the surgery.

According to a blog named Good Plastic Surgery, Heather Locklear’s plastic surgery is done well. As they point out, she’s not a celebrity most of us think of when we think of plastic surgery. That may be the very definition of plastic surgery - subtle enhancements.

Good Plastic Surgery says it’s also probably because she doesn’t make public appearances unless she is promoting something. They like her nose job too.