At 23:31 -0700 10/22/00, Tim May wrote:

As I wrote in my previous article, IT IS NOT TRUE that private hospitals must accept all those who appear at their doorstep. This would be a "taking," and is not constitutionally permissable.

Unfortunately, I'd bet it's just a matter of time until some protected minority successfully sues such a hospital for "discriminating" against them for their assumed inability to pay. i.e. "They *assumed* I couldn't pay my bills I'm black and don't have insurance. How dare they turn me away, racists!" It doesn't seem to require much of a leap to go from "Denny's is public and can't refuse to serve blacks" to "St. John's is public and can't refuse to serve blacks." Hospitals will, of course, remain "free" to turn away adult white heterosexual males.