With the Schiavo saga still fresh in everyone’s memory, gay and lesbian couples in Maryland came a bit closer to legally being allowed to make medical decisions for one another when the state House of Delegates passed the Medical Decision Making Act of 2005. The legislation would allow same sex and opposite sex couples, who register with the state as domestic partners, to make medical decisions for each other, visit their partners’ hospital rooms, share rooms in nursing homes, share ambulance rides and make decisions about burial or cremation after death.

Of course, not everyone thought it was a grand idea. During the sometimes impassioned debate in the House, minority leader, Del. Anthony O’Donnell (R-Annapolis), said the bill would “chip away” at the institution of marriage and “rip families apart.” We can only guess how allowing same sex partners to visit each other in the hospital would “rip families apart.”