Catholic nuns who provide free care to terminally ill patients in the state of New York have secured a first judicial victory against the new assisted suicide law. A federal court has provisionally prevented authorities from compelling them to participate, in any way, in the implementation of the statute, which is scheduled to take effect on August 5.
Federal Judge Anne Nardacci issued an order on July 30 temporarily barring the State from requiring four religious congregations to assist in the assisted suicide process while the lawsuit filed against the law is resolved. The legal action is backed by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and by the Bishop of Rockville Centre, John Barres.
Nuns dedicated to the care of terminally ill patients
Among the plaintiffs are the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, a congregation that for over a century has run the Rosary Hill Home, a hospice providing free care to patients with terminal cancer. The nuns maintain that collaborating, even indirectly, with assisted suicide is incompatible with their mission of accompanying patients until natural death.
Mother Mary Rose Heery, Prioress General of the Carmelites for the Aged and Infirm, another of the plaintiff communities, welcomed the judicial decision, stating that it will allow the nuns to continue accompanying residents “to the end” of their lives.
For her part, Mother Marie Edward, Superior General of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, said the State’s decision not to apply the law to them provisionally will enable them to continue “the service of love for Christ in the poor.”
“New York cannot force the Church to respond to suffering with suicide”
Bishop John Barres described the ruling as “an important first step in protecting religious freedom.”
“New York cannot force the Church to respond to suffering with suicide or to abandon the sick and dying when they most need care,” the prelate stated, adding that the injunction will allow these institutions to continue caring for their patients “in accordance with the Gospel” while the litigation proceeds.
The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne are also pursuing another lawsuit against the State of New York over a gender-identity regulation that, they claim, violates their religious freedom by imposing obligations incompatible with Catholic doctrine. In that case, the Trump Administration recently decided to intervene in support of the congregation.
Bishops describe the law as a “grave moral evil”
The legalization of assisted suicide has met with strong opposition from the Catholic Church in New York. When the law was passed, the state’s bishops called it a “grave moral evil” and denounced it as “the abandonment of the most vulnerable citizens.”
They also warned that the legislation sends a message to sick and disabled people that suicide is an acceptable response to suffering.
In addition to the lawsuit filed by Catholic institutions, several disability-rights organizations also challenged the law, arguing that it puts especially vulnerable patients at risk. However, that legal action was dismissed by a federal judge on the same day the religious congregations obtained this provisional protection.
With this legislation, New York becomes the thirteenth state in the United States to legalize assisted suicide. The injunction does not yet resolve the merits of the case, but it will allow these religious communities to continue caring for terminally ill patients without being forced to cooperate in a practice that the Church considers a grave moral evil and a violation of the inviolable dignity of every human life.