Florida - your legal rights don't matter if we don't approve of your lifestyle

It sounds like they had a medical power of attorney in place (they didn't use those words in the article below though) but since this was a lesbian couple they decided that laws and rights don't apply. "We don't like you therefore we do it our way and we don't care about the legal stuff." 

This is an important case as it shows how important not only gay and lesbian marriage is but also if you have a medical power of attorney make sure all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed - and most importantly don't get sick in Florida.

Why Gay Marriage Matters. Again.

Category:
Posted on: February 17, 2009 9:30 AM, by Ed Brayton

A woman sues a Florida hospital that refused to allow her to be at her partner's bedside while she died:

As her partner of 17 years slipped into a coma, Janice Langbehn pleaded with doctors and anyone who would listen to let her into the woman's hospital room.

Eight anguishing hours passed before Langbehn would be allowed into Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center. By then, she could only say her final farewell as a priest performed the last rites on 39-year-old Lisa Marie Pond.

But since she wasn't legally related, they wouldn't let her in:

Jackson staffers advised Langbehn that she could not see Pond earlier because the hospital's visitation policy in cases of emergency was limited to immediate family and spouses -- not partners. In Florida, same-sex marriages or partnerships are not recognized. On Friday, two years after her partner's death, Langbehn and her attorneys were in federal court, claiming emotional distress and negligence in a suit they filed last June.

And guess what? They had all that paperwork that we hear makes it unnecessary to allow them to be married:

At Friday's hearing, Langbehn's lawyers argued the case should be tried because Langbehn had the proper documentation to make medical decisions on behalf of her partner, and was not consulted about Pond's condition for hours despite seeking answers every 20 minutes.

''This is not just about same-sex couples,'' said attorney Donald Hayden, who is also representing the Langbehn family. ``This is about protecting the legal access that a parent has to see a child, or an essential loved ones right to be aware of what is going on with their loved one.''... (link Dispatches from the Culture Wars)