Obama orders hospital visiting rights for gays

I found this on USA Today and thought it was pretty interesting.
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As President Obama raised campaign money in Miami last night, his office blasted out an e-mail that heralded a major expansion of rights for gay Americans.
Obama ordered hospitals to grant visitation rights to same-sex couples, and honor the requests of gay patients who want their partners to help make major medical decisions.
The order also covers close friends and co-religionists.
"For all of these Americans, the failure to have their wishes respected concerning who may visit them or make medical decisions on their behalf has real consequences," Obama wrote in a memo to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
The Human Rights Campaign praised the order as a victory for all Americans. The Family Research Council denounced it as pandering to a special interest group.
Here are some excerpts from the president's memo:
There are few moments in our lives that call for greater compassion and companionship than when a loved one is admitted to the hospital. In these hours of need and moments of pain and anxiety, all of us would hope to have a hand to hold, a shoulder on which to lean -- a loved one to be there for us, as we would be there for them.
Yet every day, all across America, patients are denied the kindnesses and caring of a loved one at their sides -- whether in a sudden medical emergency or a prolonged hospital stay. Often, a widow or widower with no children is denied the support and comfort of a good friend. Members of religious orders are sometimes unable to choose someone other than an immediate family member to visit them and make medical decisions on their behalf. Also uniquely affected are gay and lesbian Americans who are often barred from the bedsides of the partners with whomthey may have spent decades of their lives -- unable to be there for the person they love, and unable to act as a legal surrogate if their partner is incapacitated.
For all of these Americans, the failure to have their wishes respected concerning who may visit them or make medical decisions on their behalf has real consequences. It means that doctors and nurses do not always have the best information about patients' medications and medical histories and that friends and certain family members are unable to serve as intermediaries to help communicate patients' needs. It means that a stressful and at times terrifying experience for patients is senselessly compounded by indignity and unfairness. And it means that all too often, people are made to suffer or even to pass away alone, denied the comfort of companionship in their final moments while a loved one is left worrying and pacing down the hall.