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

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

Update – July 20: This story was originally published on July 18. It has now been updated to include new details from a direct interview with the woman at the center of the case. While she remains anonymous for safety reasons, this marks the first time she has shared her account publicly. Scroll down to read the revised and expanded version of the original story.

Sourcing Note - July 22: The woman featured in this story shared her account in a direct interview with TN Repro News and previously spoke publicly about the incident during a town hall attended by Rep. Gloria Johnson. She requested anonymity due to concerns about medical and professional retaliation in her rural community. While TN Repro News has not identified the physician involved, the account reflects what legal and reproductive health experts say is a plausible outcome under Tennessee’s Medical Ethics Defense Act.

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.

Now, she’s traveling out of state to Virginia to receive prenatal care.

This is the first reported case of a woman being denied prenatal care for being unmarried in the state of Tennessee. It’s also the first reported case of a woman being denied prenatal care for being unmarried in the country.

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.”

The woman agreed to speak to me on the condition of anonymity. As we sit down, she warns me her two dogs are attempting their version of WrestleMania. She’s level-headed, angry and yet calm as she tells me more about her story. I’m in awe of her grace. She can’t imagine life without her partner. Her family means everything to her. She lovingly referred to their home as the “hangout house,” where her kid’s friends regularly come to hang out, play games and make art.

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.”

She has since filed complaints with the Department of Commerce and Insurance and the American Medical Association. She said she does have experience navigating the world of healthcare and Medicaid and explains she feels privileged in this way — a way most others wouldn’t be, especially being a white woman and employed.

She told me she was proud to be born and raised in Tennessee. She said she lives in the most beautiful part of the state and that her family spends a lot of time hiking around the lakes, enjoying the trails and seeing live music downtown. But, she said, the love she feels for her state doesn’t feel reciprocal these days. She references Tennessee’s total abortion ban and explains that just being pregnant and the idea of giving birth here terrifies her. She recalled what happened to Adriana Smith in Georgia and worries it could happen to her.

“The fear for me is if something [high risk] happens, I can't guarantee that the provider I see is going to value my life over the life of this fetus,” she said. “And while we do very, very much want this baby, I have one here already who very, very much relies on me.”

Because of this, she and her partner had already agreed to see one local provider (she adds that she wanted to support local businesses) and another in Virginia. After being denied care by the provider nearby, she felt it was the last straw and clearly illustrated the need to go out of state in order to get the best care.

She never intended to share her personal story at the town hall last week. She had planned to go and talk about how drastic the Medicaid cuts were going to be for their community. After she heard others eloquently echoing the same remarks, she decided instead to talk about how dangerous the Medical Ethics Defense Act is.

She’d never spoken in public before. Her truth poured out.

Last Spring, House bill sponsor Rep. Bryan Terry (R–Murfreesboro) claimed the law would help Tennessee recruit and retain physicians, according to Nashville Scene. That’s false. The state has seen a decline in OB-GYNs since Tennessee’s total abortion ban went into effect. Tennessee has the highest maternal mortality rate in the country and ranks among the worst for infant mortality. Combine that with the refusal to expand Medicaid and the lack of rural maternity care, and it’s no surprise Tennessee was named the worst state in the nation to live in, by a recent CNBC study.

And now, thanks to the Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” 300,000 Tennesseans may lose health insurance, and nine rural hospitals across the state are at risk of closure. For communities already struggling to keep clinics and hospitals open and with new legal protections for any physician to deny healthcare to whoever they want based on their “lifestyle,” it’s hard to imagine the impact being, as Rep. Bob Freeman (D-Nashville) recently put it, “anything but beautiful.”

“That was the first time in a very long time that I felt a sense of community in this area,” she said. “Since the election, tensions have been very thick. You can cut it with a knife.” She doesn’t consider herself religious, but she said she understands basic Christian values and thinks they’re being misconstrued.

“It should be about people and not the party,” she said.

“I don't understand how you can stand on Christian values and use the Bible as your justification while actively going against all of Christ's teachings. If you are ‘pro-life,’ you believe in supporting and protecting all lives: the born, the unborn and that includes insurance coverage, food, protecting them at school, and protecting marginalized communities.”

So, why Tennessee?

Why are we denying care to pregnant women who want to have babies?

“It’s absolutely not ‘pro-life’ — and not very Christian either,” said Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville), as she shared the woman’s story after the town hall. “And who else are they not going to treat? I had a friend say: what about someone who’s addicted to drugs or alcohol, or who’s struggling with mental health? If you can just refuse treatment to anyone whose lifestyle you disagree with — that’s not medical ethics. That’s fascism.”

Calls to the Medical Ethics Defense Act’s sponsors, Rep. Bryan Terry (R–Murfreesboro) and Sen. Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin) were not returned.