... for homosexuals. This is long overdue. Of course some on this board who claim to support gay rights but demonstrate putting politics over equal rights, may not be too happy to see this.
I have not heard of this being an issue. Have there been stories lately of hospitals refusing visits or ignoring durable medical power of attoneys?
If I'm not mistaken, life partners are not allowed by law to make end of life decisions for someone who is incapacitated.
I don't know about lately, but it has been an ongoing problem where people who are in committed relationships, and filling the same role as a spouse, don't have access, and are in effect legal strangers when it comes to next of kin and making decisions that next of kin make in hospitals.
Powers of Attorney should be fine. The problem lies with visitation (oftentimes it's "family only") and in situations where there are no health care directives. In those cases a parent's decision (or a siblings' for that matter) trump a partner regardless of whether or not it is a homosexual or heterosexual relationship.
Next Step . . . Legalize Gay Unions/Marriages Why do I say this. . . because they will need some documentation of their union . . .would that not make sense? You cannot have random folx walking in saying that's my partner . . Rocket River
I swear the man has been possessed. In the 8 years Bush was here I don't remember him being nearly as active, well, unless it was somehow supposedly tied to terrorism. Obama has been a refreshing change to say the least.
Definitely. Knowing some people who work in hospitals (and also some gay couples who encountered the problem), I think it works like this. If you're, for instance, unlucky enough to end up in an Intensive Care unit, typically only spouses and next of kin would ever be able to visit you there (if you're even visitable at all.) Lots of homosexual partners (and even unmarried long-term hetero partners) were kept out of such situations. How much would it suck to be fighting for your life in IC but not have the person you love most able to come grab your hand for a second. Not to be maudlin, but anyway, I was happy to see this move.
Changing us into a socialist and simultaneously Islamic Nazi dictatorship takes a lot of freaking work.
Doesn't completely answer it. The article says nothing about heterosexual couples that are living together. It just says specifically widows and widowers.
