Tennessee Governor Considering Bill To Permit Behavioral Health Professionals To Cite Religious Beliefs As Reason For Declining To Serve Consumers

On April 15, 2016, the Tennessee legislature sent Governor Bill Haslam a bill that would allow mental health professionals to decline to serve consumers whose goals, outcomes, or behaviors conflict with the professionals’ "sincerely held principles or religious belief." However, in cases where consumers are in immediate danger of harming themselves or others, the mental health professionals would not be allowed to deny services. For all other cases, the mental health professionals could refer the consumer to another professional. Opponents of the potential law, particularly advocates for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, worry that it would allow . . .