Change we can believe in

President Obama has instructed his HHS secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, to develop rules that enable patients to appoint "visitors" with the same rights and privileges as family members, and hospitals may not go against the will of the patient on the basis of "race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability."

It warms me to see our President doing something about an issue that has tormented same-sex couples for as long as they and their partners have been faced with medical issues.

Regardless of how one feels personally about the issue, no one can deny that the patient possesses autonomy in who he or she designates to be the equivalent of "next of kin."

Because to not do this, we are systematically denying patients a fundamental right.