Four orders Catholic nuns and several healthcare ministries have filed a lawsuit against New York over a law that compels them to participate in assisted suicides for patients, a violation of their faith.
The lawsuit requests that a federal court block New York’s assisted suicide law before it takes effect on August 5. If healthcare providers refuse to take part in assisted suicide, they will face “crippling fines, professional sanctions, and criminal penalties,” warned the legal organization Becket.
“New York has put the Sisters to a stark choice: either abandon their religious beliefs regarding the sanctity of life or face significant fines and penalties,” the lawsuit reads. “Through its euphemistically-named Medical Aid in Dying Act, which builds upon requirements in the Palliative Care Information Act, New York has conscripted even religious healthcare providers and institutions to participate in the provision of physician assisted suicide”
Governor Kathy Hochul signed the law in February. While the law has an opt-out policy, the Catholic Sisters argue that it does not go far enough. The opt-out “does not apply to facilities that do not qualify as ‘[h]ealth care facilit[ies]’ under the Act,” the filing argues. “This means that the opt-out does not apply to independent living facilities, assisted living facilities, or enhanced assisted living facilities.”
“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,” said Becket President Mark Rienzi, the lead attorney for the ministries. “That is both unconscionable and unconstitutional. We’re confident the federal courts will put a stop to it.”
