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.
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.
The woman at the town hall explained that her representatives are not responsive to her questions, even as she repeatedly calls Sen. Marsha Blackburn.
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.
After being denied care by the provider nearby, she felt it was the last straw and clearly illustrated the need to go out to state in order to get the best care. »