NEWS RELEASE
Sunday, Mar. 29, 2004                       

EQUALITY MARYLAND
Contact: Dan Furmansky, Executive Director
Phone:    Office 410-685-6567
Cell    301-461-4900
Email:    dan@equalitymaryland.org

MARYLAND HOUSE OF DELEGATES APPROVES MEDICAL DECISION MAKING ACT BY WIDE MARGIN

Bill Would Provide Legal Recognition for Same-Sex Couples in Maryland

BALTIMORE –– In a stunning victory today for gay rights advocates, the Maryland House of Delegates passed House Bill 1284, the Medical Decision Making Act, by a vote of 103-30. The legislation would grant partners the right to make critical healthcare decisions for their loved ones in hospitals and provide crucial protections to thousands of couples that are currently virtual strangers in the eyes of Maryland law.

“Legislators passed this bill because they recognized that all families deserve peace of mind at times when a loved one is hospitalized or unable to make medical decisions,” said Executive Director Dan Furmansky. “We applaud the 21 Republicans and 82 Democrats who agree that this is an issue of basic fairness, and we especially thank Delegate John A. Hurson (D-Montgomery County) for his tremendous leadership which led to the bill’s passage.”

Several key allies in the General Assembly worked with Equality Maryland to design the Medical Decision Making Act of 2004. The Human Rights Campaign provided crucial support in drafting the legislation, which is aimed at granting same-sex couples legal recognition by the state of Maryland based on the successes of several programs nationwide, including California, Hawaii, Connecticut and New Jersey.

People in committed relationships should be able to comfort each other when faced with a medical emergency," said Delegate Samuel I. "Sandy" Rosenberg (D-Baltimore County), chair of the Public Health Subcommittee that drafted amendments to the bill. "Committee members, both liberal and conservative, recognized this and voted to send the bill to the Senate.”

The Medical Decision Making Act adds provisions to the health code and establishes a mechanism for registered partners to have basic rights, including:

• The right to visit a partner or partner’s child in a hospital or other healthcare facility
• Access to a partner in a medical emergency
• Authorization for a partner to make health care decisions
• Authorization for a partner to consent to a postmortem examination
• The right to arrange for the final disposition of a partner’s body
• The establishment of a partner as next of kin for purposes of making
  anatomical gifts
• The right of a domestic partner to accompany an individual being
  transported from one health care facility to another health care facility in
  certain circumstances
• Authorization for a partner to act as a representative of a deceased from
  whom a hospital is asking a human organ donation
• The right of partners to share a room under certain circumstances
• The requirement of certain institutions to grant privacy during a visit by
  a partner
• Authorizing a partner to arrange the final disposition of the body of a
  decedent with a mortician under certain circumstances
  

  “We are very hopeful that this overwhelming vote in favor of the bill in the House will put it on the fast track in the Senate,” said Furmansky. “While this legislation is far from marriage equality, its enactment into law will provide basic protections for families and represent an important step for the LGBT civil rights movement in Maryland.

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Equality Maryland is Maryland's largest civil rights organization, focused on making life better for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizens of Maryland.   Equality Maryland works to secure and protect the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Marylanders by promoting legislative initiatives on the state, county and municipal levels and educating the public about the issues faced by our diverse community.

Equality Maryland can be found online at www.equalitymaryland.org