[suebee]

When I was in the hospital two years ago for major surgery I had medical power of attorney papers drawn up and made sure they were on my chart. There was never any question of WHO these people were: as long as they were named in the document they were given every courtesy. Visitors in ICU, on the other hand, had to be relatives or the aforementioned POA. Of course in Canada our rights have been established on a national level by a Supreme Court. I think this will have to happen eventually in the U.S. for our civil rights to cease to be a matter that can be put to popular vote. I hope that the makeup of the court will enable this to happen sooner rather than later. As my partner is an , the matter has a tremendous affect on our future.