Indian government supports medical decision rights for queer partners

The Indian Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the National Medical Commission (NMC) have informed the Delhi High Court that there is no medical or ethical rationale for excluding non-heterosexual partners from acting as medical representatives for a patient in cases of incapacity.

In affidavits filed in response to a petition by Arshiya Takkar, the authorities stated that the existing legal and ethical frameworks can accommodate requests for queer partners to be recognized as medical representatives, provided the patient has nominated or authorized them. The petition seeks guidelines to ensure hospitals and medical practitioners recognize these partners for the purposes of providing consent and accessing patients during treatment.

While supporting the recognition of authorized partners, the respondents clarified that the term ‘spouse’ remains strictly defined under the current Indian matrimonial framework as a husband or wife from a legally recognized marriage. They cited the Supreme Court judgment in Supriyo v. Union of India to note that same-sex relationships do not automatically grant the statutory status of ‘spouse’.