This Article examines a dilemma in disability law in the prison context. The Seventh Circuit held in Bryant v. Madigan that a disability cannot be “treated” with medical care. That is, prescribed medical treatment cannot be a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Yet plaintiffs often allege Eighth Amendment medical deliberate indifference claims and disability rights claims for the same injury. This Article situates this tension and explains how plaintiffs have successfully navigated it. The argument is straightforward: if access to a medical service is discriminatorily barred or if a reasonable accommodation is denied, then the plaintiff has an ADA claim. And if medically necessary care is denied and the prison officials acted with deliberate indifference, then the plaintiff also has an Eighth Amendment claim. The Article illustrates how plaintiffs with gender dysphoria may navigate Bryant to pursue reasonable accommodations under the ADA. Finally, the Article argues that ADA claims are more advantageous than Eighth Amendment claims from a liberationist perspective that resists ableism and the medicalization of trans people and embraces the full spectrum of accommodations to gender dysphoria that trans people may seek.

Continue reading Interwoven Remedies: The Healthcare-Disability Overlap in Gender-Affirming Care Behind Bars