Tenn. Law Extending Faith Protections to Therapists Draws Fire
A new Tennessee law that protects the religious freedom of therapists is under fire.
The new law prevents therapists from being forced to counsel in ways that may violate or compromise their religious beliefs. Instead, a counselor could refer a client to another counselor who could assist them. The legislation was officially signed in to law last month by Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam.
The American Counseling Association considers the law a "hate bill " that discriminates against the LGBT community, and cancelled plans to hold a conference in Nashville next year.
"Of all the state legislation impacting counseling during my 30 years with ACA, the new Tennessee law based on Senate Bill 1556/House Bill 1840 is the worst," CEO Richard Yep said in a video on the ACA website.
"Tennessee became the latest state to introduce a discriminatory religious freedom law, which targets gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans — and then went further by expanding the allowed discriminatory practice to even more American citizens," he charged.
Supporters of the law say it's not about targeting LGBT patients, but about protecting the conscience of professionals in the workplace.
"The governor believes that, at the end of the day, counselors should be like any other professionals, such as doctors or lawyers, and have the availability to decide whether they can appropriately serve a client," explained Jennifer Donnals, a spokeswoman for Haslam, in an email.
"This law provides that a therapist cannot turn away someone in a life-threatening situation and has to refer the client to another appropriate therapist, providing protection for the client as well as respecting the therapist as a professional," she said.
