WHAT WILL STATE AMENDMENTS ACTUALLY DO?: Maggie Gallagher replies to Barry Deutsch

Barry writes:
"Joshua's apparent belief that hospitals never reserve visitation rights--and, just as importantly, decision-making authority--to closest kin is shockingly ignorant."

This is a classic case of misdirection. Josh never claimed that hospitals don't reserve visitations rights to next of kin in some circumstances. Josh's claim is that state law doesn't limit visitation rights to spouses so that visitation rights aren't incidents of marriage under the law.

People here need to remember what the question is: Is the right to visit someone in the hospital a marital right, such that a state marriage amendment that forbids civil unions will preclude hospital visitation rights?

Josh's answer is not "shockingly ignorant." Josh's answer is clearly correct: hospital visitation is not a marital right in state law, or hospital policy (since even in these "shocking" situations it is a right of 'next of kin' in general, not married couples in particular).

Therefore state marriage amendments will not preclude hospitals from granting visitation to whomever they deem appropriate.

If state legislatures need to do something to protect the rights of gays and lesbians to have whomever they wish in the hospital, they can.

In particular, if medical powers of attorney are being routinely ignored, as some gay advocates claim, then state legislatures can address these issues.

posted by Eve at 6:34 PM | link

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