Tennessee has become the 12th state to protect health care providers from having to perform or participate in medical procedures that violate their deeply held beliefs.
Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed Senate Bill 955 into law April 24, protecting conscience rights for medical professionals and providers. Lee’s approval of the bill follows its passage by the Republican-controlled legislature—the Senate passing it 27-3 and the House by a 71-22 margin. The votes in both chambers reflected straight party lines.
Codified as the Medical Ethics Defense Act, Senate Bill 955 declares that “a health care provider must not be required to participate in or pay for a health care procedure, treatment, or service that violates the conscience of the health care provider.” The term “health care provider” applies to health care institutions, health insurance companies and health care professionals, while the term “conscience” is defined as “the sincerely held ethical, moral, or religious beliefs or principles held by a health care provider.”
Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, lauded the news on Facebook as “a huge step in the right direction.”
“People should not be forced to choose between their faith and their livelihood,” Franklin wrote. “Several states have already put these protections in place, and I hope many more will follow. Thank you, Governor Lee!”
The new law also includes protections for whistleblowers who report violations of the law, ethical guidelines or “gross mismanagement” on the part of a health care provider. The legislation also prohibits the state from taking adverse actions against health care providers for “engaging in speech, expression, or association that is protected from government interference by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
Actions banned by the law include reprimanding or revoking or withholding the licenses of health care providers over their speech. The measure provides for anyone who feels their rights under the law were violated to seek relief in court.
Greg Chafuen, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom’s Center for Public Policy, praised the passage of Senate Bill 955 while reflecting on the rationale behind the legislation.
“Patients are best served by health care professionals who are free to act consistent with their oath to ‘do no harm,’” Chafuen wrote in an April 25 statement. “Unfortunately, doctors and nurses have been targeted for caring for their patients by refraining from harmful and dangerous procedures.
“This ends up discouraging countless young professionals from entering the health care field because of fear that they will be forced to violate their conscience. Tennessee’s MED Act ensures that health care professionals are not forced to participate in procedures that violate their ethical, moral, or religious beliefs.”
According to a 2024 report published by the Center for Religion, Culture and Democracy at First Liberty Institute, the other states with general conscience protections for health care professionals are: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina and Washington. Last summer’s report was published before Idaho enacted its own Medical Ethics Defense Act on March 19.
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