General Discussion

Medicaid will fund Ozempic and gastric bypass surgery. So yes, there are examples of taxpayer funding going to obesity and fertility treatments.

And prisoners do get basic health care. If you have a heart attack while you are in prison, you are taken to the hospital. If you are pregnant, you receive prenatal care in prison and are taken to a hospital to deliver, not locked in your cell alone because you are a prisoner. If you are suicidal, you are provided with counseling.

Prisons have a duty of care to ensure that the people they are incarcerating do not become unnecessarily sick and die. Not providing medical care is cruel and unusual punishment which violates the 8th amendment.

https://jlm.law.columbia.edu/files/2017/05/35.-Ch.-23.pdf

Yes, surgery for prisoners is an edge case. But we should be able to speak to in terms of our values and rights in a way that most sensible people can understand.

Most sensible people can understand we don't want prisons letting people die from medical neglect.