UPDATE (4/6/16): The counseling bill passed the Tennessee State House today after what the Associated Press termed a “rancorous debate” about whether it discriminates against LGBT people or protects everyone’s religious freedom. It will have to go to conference to work out a difference with the Senate version, passed previously, which lacks an amendment specifying that suicidal clients shouldn’t be referred away. But it seems likely to eventually reach Gov. Bill Haslam’s desk. Repeated calls for comment to the House bill sponsor, Republican Rep. Dan Howell of Georgetown, have not been returned.
UPDATE (4/7/16): We added a statement by the Family Action Council of Tennessee.
***
Riding the tide of anti-gay-and-transgender sentiment sweeping the South, the Tennessee state House is scheduled to vote tomorrow on a controversial bill protecting counselors from lawsuits and licensure threats when they refuse to treat a client whose behavior conflicts with their “sincerely held religious belief.”
Although the words “gay” and “transgender” are found nowhere in the text, they have dominated the discussion of the bill sponsored by Republican Rep. Dan Howell of Georgetown. (A Senate version, sponsored by Republican Sen. Jack Johnson of Franklin, passed in February.)
In a press conference today, Democratic Rep. John Ray Clemmons of Nashville declared, “We all know what this legislation is about. It’s about discrimination… I’ve not heard from a single counselor or therapist before this legislation that said they had a problem referring clients.”
Art Terrazas, director of government affairs for the American Counseling Association, calls the proposal a “hate bill that will legalize discrimination against people who are seeking health care.”
The ACA, the Tennessee Counseling Association, the Tennessee Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, and the Tennessee Equality Project rolled out a media blitz opposing the bill late last week. The legislation is supported (and reportedly partly drafted by) the Family Action Council of Tennessee, a group headed by former state Sen. David Fowler that seeks to “defend a culture that values the traditional family.”
Fowler and his group did not grant repeated requests for an interview but sent a press release stating: “The bill respects religious liberty and prevents the American Counseling Association from using Tennessee’s laws to promote government-compelled speech, contrary to the First Amendment. Government should never force any person to speak words to anyone that is contrary to their conscience. Thankfully, 68 Tennessee Representative still value that fundamental constitutional right.”
Previously, Tennessee law had basically adopted the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics, which already provides a process for referring a case to another counselor but does not allow a counselor to refer a client to another therapist based solely on her own “personally held beliefs.” Opponents say that is an open door to discrimination. Insurance companies don’t allow discrimination by medical providers—whether they treat the body or the mind—and changing state law this way might give insurance companies a reason to refuse reimbursement for mental health treatment, says Lisa Henderson, the legislative and public policy chairperson for the Tennessee Counseling Association and its incoming president-elect. In reality, this will probably just mean fewer people get the treatment they need, she says.
Henderson explains that if a counselor finds himself struggling to work with a client because of a difference in beliefs or behaviors (an example might be a rapist or pedophile), the counselor is first expected to seek further training or supervision to overcome their personal responses. If this is unsuccessful, then the counselor refers the client elsewhere, preferably by providing several options, introducing the client to the therapists and letting the client choose, then turning them over after a joint transition session.
The new bill would basically allow a counselor to tell someone calling for the first time, “Sorry, I don’t work with gay people,” and then give the person another therapist’s phone number.
“Reaching out for help is the hardest thing,” says Henderson, who has a therapy practice in Nashville. “The first phone call is the hardest one you ever make. The person is so fragile, they may be considering suicide.”
However, if the caller mentions this specifically, an amendment to the bill would not allow the counselor to turn away a suicidal person.
Chris Sanders, executive director of the Tennessee Equality Project, says gay or transgender clients in rural areas, especially teens who face bullying, may have no other viable therapy options. Referring someone to a therapist 30 miles away may be a dead end if the client doesn’t have the money or transportation to go the distance.
The law as written could affect access for many besides gay or transgender people whose “desired outcomes” don’t align with the counselors’ “sincerely held religious beliefs.”
Henderson says counselors she has spoken with who are worried about referrals have mostly focused on the possibility of treating a client who is considering an abortion. It could also affect an array of other people, like those struggling with substance abuse or those with different parenting styles.
“The conversation in the legislature is, as I feared it would be, much more narrow than what it could be in reality,” Henderson says. “For them, it’s just LGBT right to care and counselors’ right to religious freedom. Those are the hot topics in popular culture and not necessarily in therapy. I’m watching it become less and less about therapy and more and more about right versus left.”
Sanders says the ads opposing the bill, posted on Facebook and local news websites, seem to have drawn a lot of response from East Tennessee. A petition opposing the bill, posted at MoveOn.org, topped 5,000 signatures over the weekend.
The ads make arguments like: “Don’t follow NC, GA & IN: Businesses won’t come to a state that discriminates.”
Last month, Georgia faced a backlash after passing a law allowing religious organizations to refuse to provide services to people based on their beliefs, and Gov. Nathan Deal subsequently vetoed it.
North Carolina passed a far more wide-ranging law affecting transgender bathroom use but also voiding local anti-discrimination ordinances and eliminating the ability to sue for job or housing discrimination in state courts. The economic fallout there is growing by the day. Today, PayPal announced that because of the law, it is abandoning plans to open a global operations center in North Carolina that would have brought 400 jobs to Charlotte.
Tennessee hasn’t dodged the bullet on the bathroom bill. A similar, narrower version was referred to summer study by a state House committee but is up for reconsideration tomorrow. “I think it could be close,” Sanders says.
S. Heather Duncan has won numerous awards for her feature writing and coverage of the environment, government, education, business and local history during her 15-year reporting career. Originally from Western North Carolina, Heather has worked for Radio Free Europe, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in London, and several daily newspapers. Heather spent almost a dozen years at The Telegraph in Macon, Ga., where she spent most of her time covering the environment or writing project-investigations that provoked changes such as new laws related to day care and the protection of environmentally-sensitive lands. You can reach Heather at heather@knoxmercury.com
Share this Post