Army says Manning will undergo surgery to become a woman

Chelsea, formerly Bradley, Manning ended a hunger strike that began last week after receiving word that the government would provide sex reassignment surgery.

Chase Strangio, Manning’s lawyer and an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union said the government has given assurance it will schedule the surgery but no timeline has been set.

Manning’s doctors recommended in April that she have the male-to-female surgery, Strangio told USA Today.

Last year, the Army agreed to give Manning access to hormone treatment after a lawsuit.

Manning is serving a 35-year sentence at Fort Leavenworth after a conviction for releasing classified information to WikiLeaks, which made the information public on the internet.

Manning was arrested after admitting to leaking a video, titled “Collateral Murder” by WikiLeaks, of an Apache helicopter strike -called in to provide close-air-support for the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment,  in Baghdad during “the Surge” in 2007.

Manning is eligible for parole in about six years, according to Strangio.

In July, Secretary Carter repealed the ban on transgenders from entering or remaining in military service. The announcement also said the military would offer medical treatment, including sex reassignment surgery, for transgender service members.

There are an estimated 1,320 and 6,630 transgender service members on active duty with a cost of treatment estimated to be around $50,000 each.

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