NY Adds Limited DP Protection

October 1, 2004

New York Gov. George Pataki Friday signed into law legislation that will further protect the rights of gay and lesbian hospital and nursing home patients by ensuring that their domestic partners are granted visitation rights.

This new law will ensure that no patient in a hospital or nursing home is denied the comfort of being with their loved ones when they need them the most, Pataki said.

Winning the same access rights as spouses in emergency rooms, intensive care settings, and after visiting hours in hospitals had been a goal of the state's gay community for almost a quarter of a century, since the time HIV/AIDS made its first appearance in the United States and same-sex partners were routinely denied access to each other in health-care facilities, even during the last moments of life.

In August, the Senate voted 59-0 to approve the bill. The Assembly approved an identical version, on June 3 by an equally lopsided vote of 141-1.

This is but a single step on the road to full equality, but it is critically important that our relationships receive this recognition so that at difficult times, people can provide support to their loved ones, said Assemblywoman Deborah Glick as the governor put his name to the legislation.

Empire State Pride Agenda which had lobbied extensively for the new law praised the governor.

New Yorkers believe in equality and they clearly believe that same-sex couples and their families should have the same access to each other that all other families have in hospitals and other health-care settings, said Pride Agenda Executive Director Alan Van Capelle.