Pregnant and Unmarried? In Tennessee, That's Now Grounds for Denial of Care.

(and the fucking, patriarchal,pseudo-christian, hate-filled WAR ON WOMEN continues apace)


Pregnant and Unmarried? In Tennessee, That’s Now Grounds for Denial of Care.
PUBLISHED 7/24/2025 by Jennifer Weiss-Wolf
A new law allows doctors to deny treatment based on ‘conscience.’ Now a woman has been denied prenatal care.



Demonstrators march down Tremont street to Copley Plaza after a rally on Boston Common in response to the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade in Boston on June 24, 2022. (Barry Chin / The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Originally published on The Contrarian with the headline, “Tennessee opens a new front in its unrelenting attacks on bodily autonomy.”

Abortion restrictions are never only about obtaining abortion care. Bans on gender-affirming care or bathroom access are never just an attempt to discriminate against trans people. One thing is certain: These kinds of laws double as an affront to democracy. A breaking story out of Tennessee makes this abundantly clear. TN Repro News reported on a Jonesborough town hall, where a pregnant woman stood up and shared that she was denied prenatal care because she is unmarried. (For the record, the patient has been with her partner for 15 years and they have a 13-year-old child.) In an exclusive interview by reporter Rachel Wells, the woman—who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation—shared that their family’s home is “lovingly referred to … as the ‘hangout house,’ where her kid’s friends regularly come to hang out, play games and make art.” … Not that any of that should matter. But wow.

This is the first reported case of a woman being denied prenatal care for being unmarried in the state of Tennessee and the country. And it is the direct result of the state’s 2025 Medical Ethics Defense Act, which went into effect in April. The law enables physicians, nurses, hospitals and insurers to invoke religious, moral or ethical objections to the provision of care and treatment, with no legal requirement to provide patients with a referral or alternative. Tennessee is the 12th state to pass such a law, putting it in the company of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi and South Carolina, among others. With conscience carveouts for health services, including abortion, gender-affirming care, contraception or any other procedure that conflicts with a provider’s “sincerely held” beliefs, patients are not even required to be notified in advance. This means they might become aware of a refusal only in real time, in the waiting room or on the examination table. For those who live in rural or under-served areas, the consequences are devastating. The woman at the town hall said she is now traveling out of state to receive prenatal care.

Proponents of the bill claim it serves Tennessee’s healthcare needs because it will help the state recruit and retain physicians. To be clear, Tennessee has seen a decline in OB-GYNs since its sweeping abortion ban went into effect almost immediately after the Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health in 2022. (Dr. Sharon Malone and I recently wrote about the correlating phenomenon nationwide for The Contrarian and Ms.: “A warning bell for all women in America“). Not surprisingly, Tennessee has the highest maternal mortality rate in the country and equally alarming infant mortality rates. A July 14 CNBC study ranked the state dead last in the nation for quality of life, highlighting its decade-long attack on the rights of LGBTQ+ people.
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According to TN Repro News, neither of the U.S. senators from Tennessee, Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, responded to inquiries from the woman who was refused care. Hagerty’s staff reportedly told her that the ******senator is not obligated to listen to his constituents.****** That prompted Tennessee state Rep. Gloria Johnson to weigh in with all the clarity of the moment, “It’s absolutely not pro-life, and not very Christian at all. And who else are they not going to treat? … I mean if you can just refuse treatment to anybody whose lifestyle you disagree with, this is not medical ethics. This is fascism.”

https://msmagazine.com/2025/07/24/pregnant-unmarried-woman-tennessee-denied-prenatal-care/