A bill has been passed in Tennessee that enables counsellors to refuse treatment to patients on religious grounds. A coalition of groups opposing the bill claim that it will allow counsellors to turn away patients due to their sexual orientation or religious faith. The bill, which was introduced by Republican state representative John Bennett, would make counselors who are not licensed physicians unable to provide services based solely on a patient’s “sincerely held religious beliefs.”
A bill has been passed in Tennessee that enables counsellors to refuse treatment to patients on religious grounds. A coalition of groups opposing the bill claim that it will allow counsellors to turn away patients due to their sexual orientation or religious faith. The bill is part of a wider debate currently taking place in the US about the balance between LGBTI rights and the rights of religious conservatives.