An “Unwed” Woman Denied Prenatal Care

July 22, 2025

In the year of our Lord 2025 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

July 23, 2025

Greetings, Meteor readers,

Some personal news: Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham announced a reissue of Buckingham Nicks in the middle of Mercury retrograde in Leo, and I have been UNWELL all day. Making up with your ex during the celestial season of exes resurfacing?? Stevie, the white witch that you are!

In earthly news, we take a look at an unbelievable story out of Tennessee. Plus, the continuation of the one scandal to rule them all.

Your silver spring,

Shannon Melero

WHAT’S GOING ON

Mawwaige is necessawy: Thanks to the efforts of conservatives in Tennessee, a woman with a wanted pregnancy was denied prenatal care on the grounds that her “unwed” status was in conflict with a medical provider’s religious beliefs. No, this is not a throwback anecdote from the ‘50s, a time when unwed women couldn’t get birth control or credit cards.

This occurred just weeks ago. It was enabled by Tennessee’s new Medical Ethics Defense Act, passed in April, which allows medical providers to deny care based on their religious, ethical, or moral beliefs. At the time, Nona Willis Aronowitz identified the “innocuous-sounding” act as part of the right’s war on birth control, writing that “the sneakiness can reach the point of absurdity.” Last week, it became clear that she was right. Independent journalist Rachel Wells broke the story of an unnamed Tennessee woman who explained during a town hall meeting in Jonesborough that she had been denied prenatal care because she was unmarried—a condition that apparently went against her provider’s “Christian values.” (In case you were wondering, marital status is not a protected class under federal civil rights law.) She is now traveling out of state to receive care and has filed complaints with the Department of Commerce and Insurance and the American Medical Association.

According to Wells, this is the first reported case (at least in recent history) of an American woman being denied prenatal care for being unmarried. But the funny thing—and yes, there’s always a funny thing—is that some of the most important theological figures were born out of wedlock. Ishmael was the son of Abraham and his servant Hagar. Mary became pregnant with Jesus before she was married to Joseph. Cain and Abel? Their parents couldn’t be married because the concept didn’t even exist in the first half of Genesis. What has always existed within Christian ideology is kindness and the love of Christ to all, even those you disagree with, just like it says in those He Gets Us commercials (which, again, is something the Christian right doesn’t even follow).

Maybe the Tennessee legislature missed that day of Sunday school. Or perhaps this has nothing to do with faith and everything to do with laying the groundwork for the white, Judeo-Christian, heterosexual nation of JD Vance’s wet dreams. My money’s on the latter.

AND:

Fifteen people in Gaza have starved to death in the last 24 hours, according to Reuters. One of them was a six-week-old infant, Yousef, whose family could not access baby formula. (Breastfeeding has become increasingly impossible for starving mothers, too.) For almost a year, experts have been warning that Israel was committing the war crime of “targeted starvation” against Palestinians, and now that crime has become even deadlier, since the IDF controls the dispersal of food and kills those gathering at aid sites. Starvation and malnutrition are so rampant that even if enough food were provided tomorrow, the developmental issues that children will face will last their entire lifetimes, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. This is what it looks like when a government decides to erase an entire ethnic group from the earth, in case you were curious.
Turns out the Epstein story is not going away. It’s been dominating the political discourse so much that House Speaker Mike Johnson is sending lawmakers home early to avoid a vote on the matter. As we mentioned last week, the bipartisan obsession with Epstein is more about scoring political points than protecting women and girls. We have to be honest: We didn’t think that this scandal, of all scandals, would be the first to turn Donald Trump’s base against him–especially since having a sexual assault accusation can be a resume-booster in MAGA world. In the words of E. Jean Carroll, who successfully sued Trump for sexual abuse and defamation, “MAGA gets their panties in a twist about Epstein and Trump,” but when it comes to the 27 women who’ve accused the president of sexual misconduct, “they ignore it.”

Speaking of panties in twists: According to a recent analysis in the journal Menopause, women feel more anger as they age–but express it less. The study cites hormonal changes as a factor (but, curiously, has nothing to say about the cumulative effects of misogyny). Since suppressing anger comes with its own health issues, we say: Kindly let us feel our damn feelings. At any age.
A Boston judge has ruled that for the time being, the government cannot cut Medicaid payments to any Planned Parenthood clinics that don’t provide abortion care, a huge win for women who need to receive other kinds of healthcare and have limited options. But in a dystopian twist, some clinics were reportedly encouraged by Planned Parenthood Federation of America to stop offering abortion services to maintain their Medicaid access.
Yesterday, news broke that Malcolm-Jamal Warner had died in Costa Rica, victim of an accidental drowning. For so many, thanks to his character of Theo on The Cosby Show, Warner was a beloved older brother figure. But to his wife and child, he was the entire world. Warner will be remembered for the joy and honesty he brought to his roles, but mostly for being a light to those around him. Tracee Ellis Ross wrote of him, “What an actor and friend you were: warm, gentle, present, kind, thoughtful, deep, funny, elegant.”

WARNER AND HIS INCREDIBLE SMILE AT A TELEVISION FESTIVAL A FEW YEARS AGO. (VIA GETTY IMAGES)

In more positive TV news, Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson have been reunited more than 20 years after the Dawson’s Creek finale and are now co-starring in a film trilogy called Happy Hours. Pacey + Joey 4eva. (If you were Team Dawson, you cannot sit with us.)