title: Turning loss into legislation.
abstract: Same-sex partnerships encounter tremendous challenges in the context of healthcare, including empowerment to act on behalf of loved ones. We share challenges faced by two women who confronted this issue head-on when their same-sex partners were critically, and, in one case, fatally, injured. In both cases, hospitals initially refused to recognize these women as next of kin; one woman endured years of legal battles in her struggle to win the right to care for her partner. The other testified about her heartrending experience before the Washington State Judiciary Committee, helping to inspire legislation regarding rights for visitation and end-of-life decisions on behalf of same-sex partners. We seek to remind health care providers of the limitations of current laws and to inspire them to support change.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Washington, 1959 NE Pacific St, Box 356421, Seattle, WA 98195-6421, USA. alabella@u.washington.edu
authors.forename: Angelena
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Labella
authors.forename: Devika
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Singh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002961:Civil Rights / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005260:Female; D006716:Homosexuality; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008393:Marriage / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011287:Prejudice; D011640:Public Policy; D012922:Social Change