The California Case - Why Everyone Should Be Ticked Off
Okay, so I'm sure most of my friends list has seen the California Case where an elderly gay couple was separated in spite of their Advanced Directives. Here's Doumeki's Post on the matter.
Now, as asomewhat reformed Conservative, I haven't always been on the bandwagon with the gay marriage issue I still say civil unions for all, straight and gay, and let the churches dictate what "marriage" is. But this is something that goes beyond the gay marriage issue.
Let me go into my INTJ mode, and remove the emotional component from this issue.
Advanced Directives (aka Living Will, Durable Power of Attorney, and Health Care Proxy) are important and need to be honored. It's not just about being separated from a partner - it's about having the decisions you make while competent followed. Even if you're anti-gay marriage (or for Marriage Protection, whatever you want to call it), you should be concerned. If the government can ignore your Advanced Directives, what else can they ignore? People have the RIGHTS to make these kind of decisions, and it shouldn't be dictated to.
Not only is this a result of marriage protectionism, it's a result of the pushback against Advanced Directives, which became very popular after the Terry Schiavo debacle. A part of me wonders if this will discourage people from creating Advanced Directives, which would be very bad.
To me, while it's tragic that the partners were separated, the bigger issue is respect for the rule of law. If you enact a legal document, it needs to be respected. Even if someone outside disagrees, they are legally bound to follow the instructions of the individual whose choice it should be.
Now, as a
Let me go into my INTJ mode, and remove the emotional component from this issue.
Advanced Directives (aka Living Will, Durable Power of Attorney, and Health Care Proxy) are important and need to be honored. It's not just about being separated from a partner - it's about having the decisions you make while competent followed. Even if you're anti-gay marriage (or for Marriage Protection, whatever you want to call it), you should be concerned. If the government can ignore your Advanced Directives, what else can they ignore? People have the RIGHTS to make these kind of decisions, and it shouldn't be dictated to.
Not only is this a result of marriage protectionism, it's a result of the pushback against Advanced Directives, which became very popular after the Terry Schiavo debacle. A part of me wonders if this will discourage people from creating Advanced Directives, which would be very bad.
To me, while it's tragic that the partners were separated, the bigger issue is respect for the rule of law. If you enact a legal document, it needs to be respected. Even if someone outside disagrees, they are legally bound to follow the instructions of the individual whose choice it should be.