A Heartbreaking Example with Seniors

In a heart-breaking example of why domestic partnerships are important for seniors and other domestic partners, Pam's House Blend and The Atlantic tell the tragic story of an older couple who, in 2007, took a cruise with their four children to celebrate eighteen years together.

• One partner suffered a stroke before the ship left port
• They were immediately taken to a hospital
• Power of attorney forms were faxed to allow visitation
• The hospital refused to allow her loved ones to see her
• A priest intervened to allow attendance at the last rites
  
• The woman died eighteen hours after admission
  

A federal judge ruled that the hospital had no obligation to grant visitors of any sort, but can you imagine that the hospital would have dared do this to a married couple with children?

According to a press release, the court ruled that “the hospital has neither an obligation to allow their patients’ visitors nor any obligation whatsoever to provide their patients’ families, healthcare surrogates, or visitors with access to patients in their trauma unit.”

As a strictly legal matter, that may be true (the decision can still be appealed). But as a moral matter, it is appalling. Hospitals came into being because of human compassion for illness and suffering. Whatever their legal obligations, preventing a woman from seeing her dying partner until the priest arrives to deliver Last Rites is a level of cruelty that should go down in the annals of depravity.

As comments to the above commentary by David Link note, can you imagine any hospital doing this to a straight couple? This is the sort of situation where domestic partnership rights matter, to individuals, couples, children and families.

Approve Referendum 71.