A set of New York laws is poised to require Catholic care facilities and nursing homes to inform patients of their "end-of-life" options, which now includes assisted death. Now, a coalition of nuns and Catholic healthcare providers is suing to stop it.
The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, the Little Sisters of the Poor, and The Diocese of Rockville Centre and Catholic Health, a Long Island hospital network, are all named among the 13 plaintiffs. Many of them run nursing homes and care facilities throughout the state without the use of federal funds, and believe that life is sacred and indispensable from conception to natural death.
The suit targets the recently signed Medical Aid in Dying Act, which takes effect in August and allows terminally ill patients to request life-ending drugs when they are given six months of life or less. When signing the bill, Gov. Kathy Hochul said that "New Yorkers deserve the choice to endure less suffering, not by shortening their lives, but by shortening their deaths,” calling the bill a matter of "bodily autonomy." Petitioners want the law to be rendered unconstitutional and block its enforcement for violating religious freedoms in the First Amendment, and it also argues it conflicts with federal statutes prohibiting the use of federal healthcare funds, like Medicaid and Medicare, for assisted dying.
The existing Palliative Care Information Act is also a point of contention because it requires all caregivers to inform their patients of all their "end-of-life" options, including assisted dying. Huge consequences follow noncompliance, including up to $2,000 per violation, potential loss of operating licenses, and criminal liability resulting in up to a year in prison for willful violations.
Recommended
Mother Marie Edward, the superior of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, spoke to the Free Press about her duty to “support the person to the natural end of their life," which these laws directly infringe upon. "Everyone is made in the image and likeness of God, and there is a dignity about the human person...We are only the guardians of this body. We do not take the charge of whether or not we live or we die. That’s up to God."
The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne run a small nursing facility for terminal cancer called Rosary Hill, where they have cared for approximately 45,000 patients over their 125-year history. They do not charge patients or accept any federal money, and have never received a single complaint, citation, or enforcement action since they began state reporting in 2022. The sisters there say that while there is a religious exemption, the opt-out is comparatively slim and still requires facilities to counsel patients about the entire process of assisted dying, doing everything except administer the drug. Most other states permit a complete abstention for faith-based objections.
At Rosary Hill, the sisters would be required to design policies ensuring patients are counseled on assisted death and must transfer patients to a facility for the procedure, should they request it. The Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict would receive no option for any exemption at all and would be forced to administer the drug because their facility is not legally classified as a healthcare facility.
Adèle Keim, an attorney at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty representing the plaintiffs, told The Free Press that "It imposes direct obligations on the sisters." "The sisters are required to create an assisted suicide information delivery system and implement it in their home," she said.
Keim called the laws the "extinguishing of choice," saying, "It’s eliminating the ability of New Yorkers to choose for themselves and their loved ones an environment of end-of-life care where they will not be offered assisted suicide in their lowest moments, and where they will be treasured and valued and treated with dignity until their final breath."
Mother Marie Edward has tried to keep her and her sisters out of legal disputes and would rather focus on their ministry, but says that the threat was growing large. "This talk of euthanasia legalization, of course going on in other states—it’s not a surprise, but it is certainly a great disappointment," she said.
This lawsuit follows a previously filed 2023 suit requiring care facilities to adhere to "gender-affirming care" policies such as housing biological men with women and using preferred pronouns. The Justice Department has since joined the sisters in the dispute.
Mother Marie Edward and the slew of congregations are confident that "God will prevail" in both the assisted dying suit and the ongoing 2023 suit. Until then, the sisters will continue living out their faith and mission, caring for the sick as they prepare to encounter God in death.
Editor's Note: Do you enjoy Townhall's conservative reporting that takes on the radical Left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.
Join Townhall VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member