New York Court of Appeals rules Same-Sex Partners Can't Sue Hospitals for Malpractice

A divided state appeals court ruled last Thursday that a man cannot sue a Manhattan hospital for malpractice in the death of his longtime partner, saying it could not provide tacit approval of same-sex marriages. The appeals court, in a 3-2 vote, decided that John Langan had no standing to sue the hospital despite the couple's 2000 civil union in Vermont. Attorneys for Langan claimed the civil union gave him standing as a spouse to sue the hospital under New York law. Any ruling favoring Langan would be "taken as judicial imprimatur of same-sex marriages and would constitute a usurpation of powers expressly reserved by our Constitution to the Legislature," the court ruled. Source. Foxnews.com. Click here for link to the source (last visited October 19, 2005, reo).