You know, you’re right. I hadn’t gone that far in my thinking on this but you’re right that it would only be a small step until physicians were somehow allowed a legal right by the State to deny medical services
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Tennesse: We respect rights of all bigots.
“I’m sorry, sir, but we here at Happy Rainbow Valley Counseling don’t believe in the Straight Southern Baptist lifestyle. We have found that folks who choose that life aren’t serious about acquiring a healthy mind. Now, if you are interested, we do offer a Conversion Therapy to rid you of your demonic possession, but that’s gonna cost you extra – and you’re not allowed to mingle with the other more-normal patients who aren’t quite as fucked up until we’ve made significant headway into your treatment.”
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Anyone coming to any ER in the US with a medical emergency must be treated appropriately regardless of any personal characteristics or even lack of funds. The penalties are grave, and no hospital in its right mind would dare. Doctors and nurses in ERs must treat murderers, child abusers, drug addicts and do on a regular basis.
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“The Bible contains 6 admonishments to homosexuals, and 362 to heterosexuals. That doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love straight people, just that they need more supervision.” – Lynn Lavner
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The ultra right is waging a twisted cut-throat battle focused on attempts to craf tiny legal loopholes & highly unnecessary / highly inappropriate legislation.
Unnecessary because no sane gay person would seek/demand counseling on homosexual related issues from a person who makes it clear that they do not practice in that area - just like you would not ask your proctologist to perform laser eye surgery …
highly inappropriate because there should be absolutely no justification for rejecting a patient for reasons totally unrelated to their condition - a therapist treating a patient for a fear of heights should be stripped of their credentials if, after numerous therapy sessions they inadvertently learn that the patient is gay and then solely on that fact refuses to see them - because they have a hatred for gay people.
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Well, sure, murderers, child abusers and drug addicts. But gay people? American heroes have died on battlefields strewn across the planet to defend our right to hate gays. Ted Cruz is correct, this nation is on the verge of destruction.
If it’s a private run hospital (such as HCA) they can charge you a fee upfront before you ever get seen in the ER. And if you don’t have the fee for that private run hospital, they can turn you away.
Several years ago, a prospective therapist was informed that she would not be allowed to graduate with her degree if she did not counsel a gay couple. This was in Michigan, and she tried taking it to court, where she was told flatly that she had to counsel them. This law probably grew from things like that.
The thing is, if an accredited therapist or counselor does deny services to a gay couple, they can have their accreditation stripped anyway because that is a national issue.
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who knew that people so adamantly opposed to real science were so cognizant and expert not only in obstetrics and gynecology but also psychological counseling?
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If it’s a private run hospital (such as HCA) … they just shut down the ER and shunt all of the emergency services needs to what ever local public hospital might exist in the vicinity. That great flaming anus Dick Scott did this many many times.
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I think these “bills” are becoming frequent enough to say they are synonymous with GOP. It’s only GOP’ers pushing them and only GOP’er Judges validating them. So, if your a Republican today this is part of your political identity and who you are. You are this.
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There’s probably a few thousand lawyers that would line up to represent survivors of the guy in the midst of a massive coronary that was sent away in the ambulance that wheeled him to the ER door of such a facility.
ER admittance rep, “Sir, who is your insurer?”
Ambulance EMT, “Um, he’s having a massive heart attack, he can’t understand what you’re saying.”
ER admittance rep, “Rules are rules, cash or an insurance card. Failing that you guys can just get the hell off our property.”
EMT, “Miss, the nearest hospital is 5 miles away, in rush hour traffic.”
ER rep, “Well, sucks to be you, doesn’t it?”
Yeah, that case gets litigated.
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A lot of bigots will suddenly find God.
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“The Tennessee state senate on Monday passed a bill that would let counselors reject clients who are gay based on their religious beliefs,”
I don’t know of too many people who are gay, based upon their religious beliefs.
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This is the exact sort of meddling from lawmakers that the various branches of the medical profession don’t need. The professions’ accreditation and licensing boards should handle these issues if and when they arise. There are also issues of insurance coverage. Many healthcare plans specify in the contracts with their providers about non-discrimination. Most plans nowadays will not knowingly contract with any provider who denies or delivers sub-par services based on a whole range of characteristics.
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Most counselors have a sincerely held belief against suicide. Does that mean a suicidal person can be turned away?
My brain reels… they can’t rewrite the Hippocratic Oath, can they? But I can sure see them TRYING it!
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I have mixed feelings about this bill. On the one hand, it’s definitely being moved with evil purposes in mind. On the other hand, since it doesn’t change the rules for the credentialing organizations it may lead to a lot of people getting their certs pulled who should never have been counselors in the first place.
And on the third hand, it might be worse for someone to be seen and ostensibly “treated” by a counselor who believes that fundamental things about your identity are morally wrong. There’s a long history of gay people being “treated” by jerks who wanted to cure them, uppity girls and women being treated by counselors who think that wearing pants is a sign of psychological dysfunction and so forth. (Of course those counselors probably wouldn’t dream of missing a chance to spread hate by taking a client they despise.)
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This is good for gay people. They should know who does not accept them as “born this way” and who won’t. Really, this is a service to gay people.