Indianapolis hospital denies woman right to see partner

[AngryOldDem]

http://fox59.com/2013/11/13/woman-claims-hospital-keeping-her-from-visiting-sick-partner/#axzz2kcQOY4KJ


An Indianapolis woman claims she has been left out in the cold as her partner recovers in intensive care.

Jennifer Clemmer, 28, is in critical condition at St. Francis South Hospital after overdosing on prescription drugs Wednesday morning. Her immediate family has been by her side.

Her partner, Sarah Bray, tells Fox 59 she and her two children were denied the same rights. “It’s just gut-wrenching because I’m afraid I’m going to get a phone call in the middle of the night and she’s gone,” said Bray. “We got in there, and [the hospital] had already put her family in the room. I’ve seen her maybe an hour and half all day.”

Legal experts said the case highlights a conflict between Indiana and federal laws regarding legal partnerships. Under Indiana’s Marriage Law, “a marriage between persons of the same gender is void in Indiana even if the marriage is lawful in the place where it is solemnized.” “A hospital barring a same-sex partner in specifically a hospital that receives Medicare and Medicaid funding, which most hospitals do, is not in compliance with federal law,” said Dr. Jennifer Drobac, a family law professor at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. “This shouldn’t be happening.”


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It sounds as if the hospitalized woman may not make it. To make this story even more tragic, they were planning on going to Iowa within the week to get married. One more quote from Ms. Bray:

“To know that she’s just beyond a set of doors and I’m stuck outside; they’re not acknowledging our rights.”

(Please excuse the Fox link; the local Fox affiliate was the only station that had the story.)