President Obama Tells Federal Agency To Estabish Rule Barring Hospitals From Denying Visitation to Gay, Lesbian Partners

[Mitmo01]

politcal directive or not if my wife was in the hospital and i was not allowed to see here it would take a helluva lot of stopping power to keep me away.....i would go apechit on whoever was stopping me and probably end up in the hospital myself.....that is one situation where i would act before i thought and consequences be damned..then i would proceed to every media outlet or whoever would listen and whatever lawyer would i could talk to.....simply i would be seeing red

[Peach]

Our friends Jan and Lisa were profoundly affected, Lisa was stricken with a fatal brain aneurysm. Even though she had power of attorney, for 8 hours hospital staff refused to allow Janice and her children in to see her dying partner of over 20 years — with one employee informing her that she was in an antigay city and antigay state.
Finally, when they were taking Lisa off life support, and donating her organs, Lisa's sister got a priest to get them to allow Jan and the kids to say goodbye, then they had to leave. Obama called Jan yesterday and told her that what happened to her was "outrageous" and thanked her for her courage.
As we celebrate this, send a prayer to Jan and their kids. They struggle every day to get past what they were put through.

[Linus]

My thoughts and prayers will definitely be for all the "Jans" and kids affected by not having this in place.

But I gotta wonder what's wrong with society that we have to enforce a rule to allow human kindness, compassion and understanding?

[terrificme]

My heart goes out to Jan and kids. Tragedy, sadness, loneliness and despair taught me that life is really a beautiful thing; if it wasn't I wouldn't be able to recognize that anything was wrong.

[Andrew, Jr.]

I am thrilled to hear this news. However, I would much rather see some laws on the books. In the meantime, I will have legal documents in my hands.

[Nat]

Funny, I was in the hospital yesterday for a family member. I was asked 3 times whether I was a friend or family. Before they let me in the room, before they gave me info on his status.

While I was waiting, I asked the nurses how they handle same-sex partners, and they said they treat them however the patient asks for them to be treated. That may work in nonemergency situations -but if that were really the case, I don't know why they kept asking if I was a family member. Anyway, I was glad when my gf emailed me this announcement of obama's. I hope it becomes law.

As for Jan and her children - what an unimaginably terrible experience.

[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.

[MsTinkerbelly]

Obama Mandates Hospital Visitation Rights For LGBT Couples

President Obama tonight ordered the Department of Health & Human Services to prohibit hospitals from discriminating against LGBT couples when it comes to visitations rights.
Administration officials and gay activists, who have been quietly working together on the issue, said the new rule will affect any hospital that receives Medicare or Medicaid funding, a move that covers the vast majority of the nation's health-care institutions. It is currently common policy in many hospitals that only those related by blood or marriage be allowed to visit patients. "Discrimination touches every facet of the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, including at times of crisis and illness, when we need our loved ones with us more than ever," Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in praising the decision. Obama's actions are the latest attempt by his administration to advance the agenda of a constituency that strongly supported his presidential campaign.
It's not yet clear how gay couples will establish the validity of their relationships to hospitals, as most do not yet have one that is legally recognized. A side effect to this otherwise very welcome move by the president is that it removes one of the most compelling arguments for marriage equality.
UPDATE: Here's the wording from the first section of the order. "Legally valid advance directives" will be required, apparently.

Initiate appropriate rulemaking, pursuant to your authority under 42 U.S.C. 1395x and other relevant provisions of law, to ensure that hospitals that participate in Medicare or Medicaid respect the rights of patients to designate visitors. It should be made clear that designated visitors, including individuals designated by legally valid advance directives (such as durable powers of attorney and health care proxies), should enjoy visitation privileges that are no more restrictive than those that immediate family members enjoy. You should also provide that participating hospitals may not deny visitation privileges on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The rulemaking should take into account the need for hospitals to restrict visitation in medically appropriate circumstances as well as the clinical decisions that medical professionals make about a patient's care or treatment

[Heart]

Despite the loonies, the conservatives and Repubs are offering little objection to this policy and it enjoys broad public support - as it should. But what that means is that Obama is taking the least controversial path when it comes to the rights of lgbtq people. I think this move actually signals his ongoing lack of support for same-sex marriage.