Women religious sue New York over law they say would force them to assist in patient suicides

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Four orders of women religious and Catholic healthcare ministries sued the state of New York July 17 over a new law allowing physicians to aid terminally ill adults in dying by suicide. 

In a lawsuit filed by Becket, a religious liberty law firm, the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, the Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict and the Little Sisters of the Poor argued the law would require them to facilitate such deaths in violation of their faith.

Mother Mary Rose Heery, prioress general of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, said in a July 20 statement, “At our homes, we bring Christ’s unbounded love to elderly New Yorkers of every background and walk of life.” 

“We strive to bring His compassion to those entrusted to our care, ensuring that no resident ever has to die alone,” she said. “This law strikes at the heart of that vocation.”  

New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Supporters of physician-assisted suicide argue the practice protects the autonomy of suffering individuals in their final days, but opponents argue the practice disregards the dignity of human life and leaves those who are ill or dying vulnerable to coercion, among other concerns. 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explicitly condemns the practice of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide as “morally unacceptable” and a violation of the Fifth Commandment, “You shall not kill.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., signed the law in February, arguing she had “secured” guardrails during the legislative process that ensured the “integrity of patient decision and preparedness of medical institutions.” The state’s Catholic bishops were among those who objected to the law. 

But Mark Rienzi, president of Becket and the lead attorney for the healthcare ministries, said in a July 20 statement, “New York is forcing sick and dying people to consider suicide at their lowest moment, regardless of whether they ask for it or not.” 

“Worse, it’s conscripting the nuns who care for them into its suicide cult on pain of crushing fines and professional ruin,” Rienzi said. “That is both unconscionable and unconstitutional. We’re confident the federal courts will put a stop to it.”

Becket, which is representing the religious orders and Bishop John O. Barres of Rockville Centre, New York, said the religious ministries plan to seek a preliminary injunction against the law in the coming days. 

In a statement, Bishop Barres added, “We will never submit to New York’s culture of death.”

“Assisted suicide is a grave moral failure that puts the elderly, the disabled, and those suffering from mental and emotional illness at risk of abuse and manipulation,” said the bishop, whose diocese is also a plaintiff. “Christ the Divine Physician calls us to accompany the sick and dying with compassion, not abandon them to death. The court should protect that millennia-old mission.”

The lawsuit is another in a series of lawsuits from Catholic nuns against recent Empire State laws. Earlier this year, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, who operate a 42-bed palliative care program for the dying poor, challenged a law implementing requirements on gender identity accommodations for nursing home residents.

New York is one of 13 states, as well as the District of Columbia, that have legalized assisted suicide.

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