Announcing RLS 2026’s Runner-Up State: Tennessee

Tennessee has made major strides in protecting religious liberty, rising from tenth place in 2025 to second place in the 2026 Religious Liberty in the States (RLS) index.

The Volunteer State now protects 85 percent of the religious liberty safeguards tracked in RLS 2026. That score makes Tennessee one of only two states to earn an “excellent” rating in this year’s index, along with first-place Arkansas. Tennessee’s rise is due in large part to legislation adopted in 2025. By passing the Medical Ethics Defense Act, Tennessee strengthened protections for healthcare workers, institutions, and payers who have conscience objections to participating in certain medical procedures.

General Medical Conscience Protection

RLS gives equal weight to each of its 20 safeguards, but some safeguards offer especially significant protection for religious liberty. Religious Freedom Restoration Acts provide the broadest protection, but the next most important protection RLS considers is whether a state has a general medical conscience protection.

Many states protect medical professionals from being forced to participate in abortions if they have religious objections. But a strong general medical conscience law goes further, protecting a wide range of individuals and institutions from being forced to participate in multiple medical procedures, including abortion, sterilization, and contraception, if they have religious objections.

Tennessee’s Medical Ethics Defense Act provides this kind of protection. The law states that healthcare providers “must not be required to participate in or pay for a healthcare procedure, treatment, or service that violates the conscience of the healthcare provider.” It also protects healthcare providers from being penalized for exercising speech protected by the First Amendment.

By adopting this important safeguard, Tennessee advanced from tenth to second place in the RLS rankings and now protects 85 percent of the items considered in the index.

An Excellent Rating

Tennessee’s rise is especially notable because it is not only a high-ranking state. It is also one of only two states to earn an “excellent” rating in RLS 2026.

In RLS 2025, no state had adopted more than 80 percent of the laws considered in the index. In RLS 2026, Tennessee crossed that threshold with a score of 85 percent. This shows how quickly a state can improve its overall score by adopting broad and meaningful legal protections.

Tennessee’s performance is also part of a broader pattern. States can improve their RLS scores by passing new legislation and by having existing laws in place when new safeguards are added to the index. Tennessee’s ranking shows the importance of both.

Tennessee’s rise is especially notable when compared with other states that might be expected to perform well. Tennessee leads Alabama by roughly 46 percentage points, Texas by about 42 percentage points, and Oklahoma by nearly 35 percentage points.

These differences show that a strong religious liberty ranking is not automatic. States improve when policymakers identify gaps in the law and adopt concrete protections for religious exercise and freedom of conscience.

Tennessee’s Future

All states have room for improvement, including Tennessee. Despite its second-place standing, the Volunteer State could still add additional protections tracked by RLS, especially in the areas of economic life, religious life, and family and education. By doing so, it may challenge Arkansas for the top spot in future years.

Still, Tennessee’s 2026 ranking should encourage other states to strengthen protections for people of all faiths. The RLS index gives legislators and citizens a clear starting point for identifying gaps in state law and considering proven models from other states.

Where does your state rank? Check out the RLS index state ranking or access the report to learn more.