U.S. Extends Hospital Visitation Rights
To Same-Sex Partners

 

On April 15, 2010, President Obama mandated that hospitals nation-wide extend visitation rights to the partners of gay men and lesbians and allow same-sex couples to share medical power of attorney, perhaps the most significant step so far in his efforts to expand the rights of gay Americans.

The president directed the Department of Health and Human Services to prohibit discrimination in hospital visitation. Administration officials and gay activists, who have been 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.Obama’s actions are the latest attempt by his administration to advance the agenda of a constituency that strongly supported his presidential campaign. In his first 15 months in office, he has hailed the passage of hate crime legislation and held the first Gay Pride Day celebration at the White House. Last month, Obama’s top military and defense officials testified before Congress in favor of repealing of the “don’t ask, don’t tell’’ policy for gays in the armed forces.

But the moves have been too slow for some seeking equal rights for gays, who have urged the president to be more vocal and active in championing their causes. Other gay rights activists have defended the administration for doing what it can, while at the same time pushing Congress to act on broader issues such as passage of an employment nondiscrimination act and an end to the ban on gays serving openly in the military. “

Gay activists have argued for years that recognizing same-sex marriage would ease the stress associated with not being able to visit their hospitalized partners. But opponents of same-sex marriage have called the visitation issue a red herring, arguing that advocates want to provide special rights for gays that other Americans do not have.

The new rules do not apply only to gays. They also affect widows and widowers who have found themselves unable to receive visits from a friend or companion.

-From “US extends hospital visitation rights to partners of gays; Obama move is latest attempt to advance agenda” by Michael D. Shear, Washington Post, April 16, 2010 , http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/04/16/us_extends_hospital_visitation_rights_to_partners_of_gays/, retrieved 4/16/10.

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