Same-sex partner barred from Indiana hospital

[n2doc]

ichael Boren and Jill Disis, The Indianapolis Star

INDIANAPOLIS -- A woman says she can't visit her unconscious same-sex partner in a local hospital because the partner's mother has banned her from the room.

Sarah Bray, 34, says her partner was taken Wednesday morning to Franciscan St. Francis Health-Indianapolis after a drug overdose. Bray says she was able to visit her partner until her partner's mother arrived and ordered her to leave.

"This is a clear violation of LGBT hospital visitation rights," David Stevens, a spokesman for GetEqual Indiana, said about the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered individuals. Bray reached out to Stevens' group about her concerns.

The case raises complicated questions about hospital visitation rights, especially for same-sex partners. Gay rights advocates argue that Bray's rights are being violated. But legal experts consulted by The Indianapolis Star say not enough details are known to determine whether the hospital is discriminating against her by allowing Bray to be banned from the room.

A memorandum signed by President Barack Obama in 2010 extends hospital visitation rights to same-sex partners at hospitals that accept Medicare and Medicaid — even in states such as Indiana that don't recognize same-sex partnerships. It also extends patient care decisions to same-sex partners if they have been designated as the next-of-kin representative.

more
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/14/same-sex-partner-banned-hospital/3524889/


Slimeballs...

[idwiyo]

1. k&r WTF?

[MNBrewer]

2. I guess it's still 1983

[Swede Atlanta]

3. Yes, the reich wing think the LGBT community is asking for 'special' rights......

No, we are asking for the same rights as anyone else.

Unfortunately I doubt the young woman lying in the hospital had any kind of power of attorney or directive with respect to her care and decision making.

Even in an opposite-gender unmarried partner situation hospitals will, absent some substantive evidence to the contrary, defer to parents and/or siblings.

That's why I tell all my estate planning clients the most important things to think about are financial and medical Powers of Attorney (or whatever they may be called in the various states) to give someone the ability to pay bills/sell assets, etc. as well to make medical decisions with or without a "living will". With that in hand hospitals will defer to the person named as medical attorney and will in fact often let that person decide who can enter and who cannot, even if the person denied is a family member.

Without the benefit of marriage, the only way to protect yourself from meddling family members is to have the right legal documents. That is another reason why marriage equality is so important.