News Pregnant Mother in Tennessee Denied Care for Being Unmarried
News Pregnant Mother in Tennessee Denied Care for Being Unmarried
Quote: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.
Nashville Banner, July 20, 2025.
(This one seemed to fit under a lot of categories. I eventually landed on "institutional sexism"...)
Quote: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.