Same-Sex Couples and Medical Decisions

Rebecca K. Glatzer, a student member of The Elder Law Journal, has recently published her note entitled Equality at the End: Amending State Surrogacy Statutes to Honor Same-Sex Couples’ End-of-Life Decisions, 13 Elder L.J. 255(2005).

Here is a summary of the article as provided on LexisNexis:

Only three states presently grant the same benefits, protections, and responsibilities to same-sex couples as spouses in marriage. The consequences of this reality are especially felt by same-sex couples hoping to take advantage of state surrogacy statutes, as only a few state surrogacy statutes recognize nontraditional families in the end-of-life decision-making process. In this note, Rebecca Glatzer examines the various statutory approaches to surrogate decision making and then evaluates those approaches for their ability to effectuate the health care wishes of gay and lesbian couples. She concludes by suggesting that states reform their surrogacy statutes to recognize the rights of nontraditional families. In addition, she suggests a number of practical steps that same-sex couples can take in order to effectuate their end-of-life decisions in those states that do not reform their surrogacy statutes.