HOSPITAL FORCES LESBIAN TO DIE ALONE
(Asterisk)
Allegedly, Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami denied visitation rights and alerts on the condition of dying patient Lisa Pond's partner Janice Lengbehn and their adopted children despite Lengbehn having been named Power of Attorney and permission in a Living Will to make end-of-life decisions. The lawsuit was dismissed under U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan.
According to a testimony from Lengbehn, "...around 4pm, a social worker came out and introduced himself as Garnett Frederick and said, “you are in an anti-gay city and state. And without a health care proxy you will not see Lisa nor know of her condition."
To think that right here in Florida (not even BFE Florida, but the progressive South Florida metropolitan area) a homosexual couple could be denied such basic rights in spite of having full legal authority to them simply on the grounds of their sexual orientation. Not even that, but that the lawsuit was closed and Jackson is allowed to turn away gay and lesbian couples from dying family members. As someone who has long supported the LGBT movement, I left positively speechless. Have we not moved from these archaic acts of prejudice? As a nation, we should be turning towards a more liberal social ideaology and, I believe, we are moving in the right direction. But these continued acts of pure bigotism are the blockades that are keeping us from making progress at the rate we should be. To deny such rights to anyone, homosexual or not, is unbearably cruel and should be viewed as a travesty towards humanity. As I bow my head in shame for this tragic occurance, I cannot help but try to keep a beacon of hope alive in my mind for the future of our nation.
For link to article at asterisk.com
http://blog.mattalgren.com/2009/09/hospital-forces-lesbian-to-die-alone/
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