Exclusive: Pregnant Woman in Tennessee Denied Care for Being Unmarried (Updated)

[sheshe2]

The 2025 Medical Ethics Defense Act allows physicians to deny care to patients whose "lifestyles" they disagree with

Last Thursday, at a town hall in Jonesborough, Tennessee, a 35-year-old woman shared her story: she was denied prenatal care by her physician because they objected to the fact that she wasn’t married nor did she plan to be. She’d been with her partner for 15 years and they have a 13-year-old child.

While going through her medical history, the physician told her that because she was unwed, they didn’t feel comfortable treating her, because it went against their values and she should seek care elsewhere. At the time of the appointment, the woman believed she was about four weeks into her pregnancy.

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On April 24th, Tennessee’s 2025 Medical Ethics Defense Act went into effect. It gives physicians, hospital systems and insurers, among others, the legal right to deny healthcare to patients based on religious, moral or ethical beliefs. There are no protections for people in rural areas with limited options. There’s no requirement to refer patients elsewhere. And there’s no legal recourse. The woman at the town hall explained that her representatives are not responsive to her questions, even as she repeatedly calls Sen. Marsha Blackburn. When she reached staff at Sen. Bill Hagerty’s office, they told her, “he’s not obligated to listen to his constituents.”

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Less than three months after the Medical Ethics Defense Act became law, at her first prenatal visit, her provider suggested she seek care elsewhere due to differing values. She was shocked. It all became real.

“Instantly, I felt my stomach drop and I knew this wasn't right. This wasn't okay. I didn't want to react in a place of anger, because I felt like that was just going to support any judgment that the provider already had against me,” she told me. “I said ‘thank you for your time’ and left, because if you're not willing to provide the best care to me, regardless of the reason, I don't want any part of this.”

https://wellsrachelm.substack.com/p/pregnant-woman-in-tennessee-denied

I guess this Hypocrite's Hippocratic Oath means nothing.