Obama Decrees Hospital Visitation Rights for Same-Sex Partners

By Joseph Erbentraut in News on Apr 16, 2010 7:00PM

Last night, President Obama ordered that his health secretary institute new rules mandating visitation and medical decision-making rights for gay and lesbian partners in hospitals receiving Medicare or Medicaid funding. The presidential order extends beyond the LGBT community, to the widowed, members of certain religious orders, unmarried partners and elderly of any sexual orientation who might otherwise find themselves alone when hospitalized. But Obama acknowledges gay and lesbian people have been particularly hurt by hospital visitation policies' sometimes less-than-inclusive stances.

"Also uniquely affected are gay and lesbian Americans, who are often barred from the bedsides of the partners with whom they may have spent decades of their lives - unable to be there for the person they love, and unable to act as a legal surrogate if their partner is incapacitated," the memo read.

The memo was, reportedly, inspired by the story of Janice Langbehn, whose partner of 20 years Lisa Pond suffered an aneurysm while they and their children were boarding a Miami cruise ship in February 2007. Though Langbehn had previously been granted power of attorney, Jackson Memorial Hospital refused to allow Langbehn access to Pond without family members present. Pond died 18 hours later. A Florida district court ruled last September that the hospital was under no obligation to allow "non-family" visitors access to patients in the trauma unit. Obama's memo would overrule that finding for any state-funded hospital.

Langbehn, whom Obama called after signing the order, issued a statement saying, "It was very rewarding to hear, 'I'm sorry,' from the president, because that's what I have wanted to hear from Jackson Memorial since the night Lisa died. I hope that taking these steps makes sure that no family ever has to experience the nightmare that my family has gone through."

While the order marks an important step for many communities that's obviously vindicating for Langbehn, some LGBT advocates say the step is "a small, but welcome step forward."

"Of course, the real cure is to end exclusion from marriage, pass the federal Respective for Marriage Act, and provide all families the full measure of protections," said Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry. "Piecemeal steps, addressing one protection at a time, will take up a lot more time than either the Administration or American families can afford."