On April 15, 2010 President Obama issued a presidential memorandum to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius requiring U.S. hospitals that receive federal money to allow patients to receive visitors and designate a "surrogate decision maker" in the event of an emergency.
Gay rights groups see the memo as a victory for gay and lesbian families, who have traditionally had few rights to visitation or decision-making for same-sex partners under hospital care. Such rights are usually reserved for married spouses or children of the patients.
Though the memo does not create or enforce a law bestowing visitation and decision-making rights for gay family members, it requests that HHS devise rules requiring hospitals participating in Medicare or other federal programs - nearly all the hospitals in the country - to allow patients to designate their visitors and decision-makers regardless of familial or legal relation.
Obama Recognizes Gay Families' Plight
"Every day, all across America, patients are denied the kindnesses and caring of a loved one at their sides - whether in a sudden medical emergency or a prolonged hospital stay," Obama said in the memo. "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 outline three steps for the HHS to ensure equality for all hospital patients:
- Initiate a rule requiring hospitals receiving federal money to "respect the right of patients to designate visitors." Designated visitors should enjoy the same rights as those of immediate family members. Additionally, hospitals may not deny patients' visitation rights "on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability."
- Require hospitals to comply with patients' advance directives, such a durable powers of attorney and health care proxies, and accept the decisions made by the proxies.
- Provide additional recommendations to the President specifically addressing solutions HHS "can take to address hospital visitation, medical decision-making, or other health care issues that affect LGBT patients and their families.
Advocates for Gay Families Applaud Memo
The Human Rights Campaign, a national gay rights organization, noted that Obama's action was inspired by a Miami lesbian couple, Lisa Pond and Janice Langbehn. As Langbehn received hospital care, the facility rejected the couple's advance healthcare directive and wouldn't admit Pond or their children to Langbehn's bedside.
“Discrimination touches every facet of the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, including at times of crisis and illness, when we need our loved ones with us more than ever,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “No one should experience what befell the Pond-Langbehn family, and the President’s action today will help ensure that the indignities Janice and her children faced do not happen to another family.”
