(Reuters) – A federal judge in San Francisco on Thursday ruled that California must provide sex reassignment surgery to a transgender inmate, calling denial of the procedure a violation of constitutional rights.

U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar wrote in his 38-page order that the state was violating the constitutional rights of Michelle-Lael Norsworthy, who was convicted of second-degree murder in April 1987, by not providing the operation.

Tigar wrote that Norsworthy had attempted other treatment options but says she still experiences “excruciating pain and frustration” due to her condition, and her current hormone replacement therapy could threaten her liver function.

… Norsworthy, 51, was born Jeffrey Norsworthy. “She” is serving a sentence of 17 years to life at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, California.

[Jeffrey Norsworthy] began identifying as a transgender woman in the mid-1990s and was diagnosed with the condition in January 2000.

The operation would be the first in state prison history and could cost as much as $100,000 [of tax payer dollars], California Corrections Health Care Services spokeswoman Joyce Hayhoe told the Los Angeles Times.

Hayhoe’s office was reviewing the order to “determine the next steps,” she told the newspaper.