New York calls it choice. The nuns call it coercion. If the state can force them to help facilitate a death, where does government power over Christian conscience end?
Four orders of Catholic nuns and several faith-based health care ministries have filed a federal lawsuit against New York Attorney General Letitia James and other state officials, seeking to protect their right to serve the sick and dying in accordance with their faith and conscience.
The suit, known as Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm v. James, was filed in federal district court by the religious liberty law firm Becket on behalf of the Carmelite Sisters, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, the Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict, the Little Sisters of the Poor, Bishop John O. Barres of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, and several other organizations.
At issue is New York’s recently enacted “Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) Act,” which is set to take full effect on August 5. Under the law, any healthcare provider or faith-based nursing home that refuses to prescribe lethal drugs for assisted suicide is still legally compelled to inform terminally ill patients of their “right” to kill themselves, help process paperwork for lethal prescriptions, and actively refer patients to willing suicide providers. Ministries that refuse to comply face severe financial penalties, the loss of professional licenses, and even the possibility of criminal charges.
With the deadline approaching, the ministries are asking for an immediate preliminary injunction to safeguard their mission of providing prayer, dignity, and compassionate care to the dying. This lawsuit is a defense of religious liberty and the right to serve others without violating deeply held convictions.
The Lie of “Choice” and the Reality of Coercion
Physician-assisted suicide is on the rise in America. Supporters of these laws insist that allowing Americans to kill themselves with the help of the healthcare industry is compassionate and provides the terminally ill with personal autonomy and choice.
We know from Canada’s experience that such permissions are never confined to the “terminally ill,” and New York’s MAID Act shows how these policies can quickly infringe on the rights of others, forcing healthcare workers who object on moral or religious grounds to participate in such state-sanctioned death.
Scripture teaches that God alone is the author of life. For a nurse or a nun to be required to guide a vulnerable resident toward ending their life violates the biblical command to protect life and undermines the sacred trust placed in caregivers.
The Carmelite Sisters provide holistic care to the aged and infirm “in an atmosphere of Christian understanding and faith” and are adamantly “opposed to abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide and all acts of violence against the human race.” The Little Sisters of the Poor have welcomed the elderly poor into their homes for nearly 200 years. The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne have spent over 125 years caring for impoverished cancer patients in their final days.
These women see the dying not as burdens but as God’s image-bearers, deserving compassion and dignity.
Yet New York’s law, as written, requires these sisters to face a dying resident at their most vulnerable moment and provide information that could lead to the end of that person’s life. As Mark Rienzi, president of Becket and lead attorney for the ministries, stated:
“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. That is both unconscionable and unconstitutional.”
Abandoning the Vulnerable to a Culture of Death
Beyond the violation of religious liberty, New York’s mandate strips patients of the assurance that these ministries will remain true sanctuaries of life. When elderly or terminally ill individuals enter a Catholic hospice or nursing home, they do so because they trust they will be cared for in a setting that honors life.
They trust that no physician would ever subtly suggest their life is no longer worth living and that no administrator will weigh the cost of continued care against the price of a lethal prescription. They enter these homes to live out their final days in peace and genuine human comfort.
By forcing these ministries to facilitate assisted suicide, New York invades these sanctuaries of life and robs patients of the peace they sought there. It sends a chilling message to the elderly, the disabled, and those suffering from severe depression.
Bishop John O. Barres of the Diocese of Rockville Centre identified the spiritual error underlying this law when he declared:
“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. Christ the Divine Physician calls us to accompany the sick and dying with compassion, not abandon them to death.”
True compassion affirms a person’s God-given dignity until natural death. Assisted suicide is not mercy but the abandonment of sick and suffering people at the moment they most need love, Gospel hope, and care.
A Clear Violation of the First Amendment
Federal law prohibits states from discriminating against healthcare entities and providers who refuse to participate in, counsel for, or refer for assisted suicide. New York is attempting to pressure religious ministries into compliance before the courts can act.
Other states have tried, New Mexico being the most prominent example, but the First Amendment ensures the free exercise of religion and prohibits the government from compelling citizens to speak or act against their sincerely held beliefs. The government has no constitutional authority to force anyone to violate their conscience by enabling in any way the untimely death of another person.
The sisters have made it clear that they will not compromise their faith. As Sister Justyna Owsiejko of the Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict said:
“We are simple nuns whose mission is to serve God… New York is trying to force us to abandon that vocation and help our residents commit suicide. That is something we will never do. Our foundress overcame war and exile to serve those in need—we will overcome this law to do the same.”
The Church’s Call to Defend Life and Freedom
New York’s actions should serve as a warning to every Christian and person of conscience across the nation. The state is no longer content merely to legalize practices many Americans consider immoral; it now seeks to compel religious ministries to participate in them.
If government can compel Catholic nuns to facilitate assisted suicide, no faith-based hospital, hospice, or ministry should assume it will be exempt from similar demands.
As the August 5 deadline approaches, Christians should pray for these ministries, the Diocese of Rockville Centre, and the attorneys at Becket as they defend both religious liberty and the sanctity of human life.
The Little Sisters of the Poor, the Carmelite Sisters, the Dominican Sisters, and the Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict have faithfully cared for the dying for generations. They now need and deserve the support of every American who believes the government has no authority to compel people of faith to violate their conscience and participate in the grave sin of enabling another person’s death.
In this episode of the Give Me Liberty podcast, Ryan Helfenbein explains why assisted-suicide laws rarely remain limited, and how their expansion ultimately endangers both vulnerable patients and caregivers of conscience.
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