BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts inmate who battled with state prison officials for 12 years says a judge’s decision to grant her request for sex-change surgery is “the right thing to do.”

Judge Mark Wolf ruled earlier this month that sex-reassignment surgery is the only adequate treatment for Michelle Kosilek’s gender-identity disorder, which he found was a “serious medical need.”

Wolf’s ruling prompted an outcry among some legislative leaders, who say Kosilek, a convicted murderer, is not entitled to the taxpayer-funded surgery.

Kosilek tells The Associated Press in a phone interview from prison that gender-identity disorder is a “valid medical condition,” though she knows some don’t view it that way.

She said she’s entitled to medical treatment, just like other inmates.

Kosilek was named Robert when married to Cheryl Kosilek. He was convicted of killing her in 1990.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.