Obama Grants Gays Hospital Visitation & Care Decision Rights

Recently, President Obama submitted a memorandum to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, granting gay and lesbian partners of hospital patients visiting rights and the right to be acknowledged as persons designated to dictate care choices for patients incapable of making such decisions.  The action was said to have been spurred by the story of a lesbian woman Janice Langbehn who was denied visitation when her partner was admitted to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami after she suddenly collapsed.  The patient later died, and Langbehn was not by her side due to the hospital’s policy of allowing only family members visitation rights.

In his memorandum, the President took account of such personal stories and requested that the Secretary of HHS take steps towards ameliorating the issue by ensuring that all hospitals participating in Medicare and Medicaid respect the rights of patients to designate their visitors and care coordinators in the event of incapacitation.  A partner in a gay relationship, thus,  could be one specified in advance directives and health care proxies.

The President stated that visitation privileges may no longer be denied “on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.” Specifications regarding whether or not a line will be drawn between unmarried partners and non-intimate relationships were not included in the memorandum; however, it did mention that HHS would be responsible for determining the technical aspects of implementing the grant.

Interestingly,  response from conservative groups was not particularly adverse. Perhaps the spectre of refusing to allow death bed visitations between partners, such as Ms. Langbehn’s ordeal, loomed as a form of cruelty difficult to countenance. The NY Times noted that

The socially conservative Family Research Council issued a statement calling the issue of medical rights for gay men and lesbians “a complete red herring” but saying it had “no objection” to individuals conferring decision-making powers to whomever they wish.

The Obama Administration reached out to groups like Catholic Health Association before releasing the memorandum in an attempt to ensure that the grant would not face any obstacles within the religious community. The Catholic Health Association noted that the order “reaffirmed basic human rights for each person at most critical points of their lives.”  The NY Times further noted that the group’s president, Sister Carol Keehan, stated “Everybody in this country has a right to say, If I can’t speak for myself, this is the person I want to speak for me.”