Pentagon OK with Manning gender treatment

by Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY

NWCN.com

Posted on May 14, 2014 at 11:05 AM

WASHINGTON The Pentagon is trying to transfer convicted national security leaker Pvt. Chelsea Manning to a civilian prison so she can get treatment to transition to a woman, a Defense official said Wednesday.

The soldier, formerly named Bradley Manning, was convicted of sending classified documents to anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

The Associated Press first reported Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's decision to move Manning early Wednesday.

The Army has asked the Pentagon to approve moving Manning to a federal prison. Manning is serving a 35-year prison sentence and is eligible for parole in seven years.

The soldier has asked for hormone therapy and to be able to live as a woman. Transgenders are not allowed to serve in the U.S. military and the Defense Department does not provide such treatment. The Department of Veterans Affairs, however, does provide the treatment for veterans.

Granting Manning's request is the humane thing to do, said Allyson Robinson, policy director for SPARTA, an advocacy group for LGBT troops and veterans.

"It is the constitutional right of every American to be spared cruel and unusual punishment for their crimes," Robinson said. "The Pentagon's decision reflects their acknowledgement that the treatments Manning requires are medically necessary, and that withholding them would be cruel and unusual, a violation of her Eighth Amendment rights. We should expect an institution charged with defending our Constitution to do no less."

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Pentagon OK with Manning gender treatment