President Barack Obama mandated Thursday that hospitals extend visitation rights to the partners of gay men and lesbians and allow same-sex couples to share medical power of attorney, perhaps the most significant step so far in his efforts to expand the rights of gay Americans.
The president directed the Department of Health and Human Services to prohibit discrimination in hospital visitation in a memo that was e-mailed to reporters Thursday night.
Administration officials and gay-rights activists said the rule will affect any hospital that receives Medicare or Medicaid funding — the vast majority of the nation’s health care institutions. It is policy in many hospitals that only those related by blood or marriage be allowed to visit patients.
“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,” Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in praising the decision.
The new rules do not apply only to gays. They also affect widows and widowers who have found themselves unable to receive visits from a friend or companion. And it would allow members of some religious orders to designate someone other than a family member to make medical decisions.
In Colorado, gay, lesbian or unwed couples are already able to visit partners in the hospital if they sign contracts giving each other the power to make end-of-life and estate decisions.
State Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, carried the legislation to allow the “designated beneficiary agreements” last year. He said Obama’s memo strengthens the power of the agreements.
“They should give people standing to go into hospital rooms,” he said.
Colorado has granted same-sex couples the right to adopt each other’s children, added “sexual orientation and gender identity” protections to hate-crime and discrimination laws and given partners of state employees access to group benefits.
Denver Post staff writer Jessica Fender contributed to this report.
