Tennessee passes law allowing doctors to deny care if it violates their morals

This week, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed legislation allowing healthcare professionals in the state to deny care to patients if it conflicts with the providers’ personal morals, ethics, or religious beliefs.

That includes the use of pronouns in a medical setting.

The new law, which applies to doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and insurance companies, went into effect with the governor’s signature.

The legislation’s Republican sponsor is a physician who cited the threat of “moral injury” posed to healthcare professionals who may not share their patients’ personal or religious beliefs.

“Patients and providers have rights. Providers should not give up their rights to best serve their patients,” Terry said.

The law could result in women being denied medically necessary abortions and LGBTQ+ people being turned away for preventative care like pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP.

Denying care for any reason is a clear violation of the Hippocratic Oath, which…

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