Catholic ministries that have served New York’s elderly, sick, and dying for generations are asking a federal court to prevent a new state law from requiring them to participate in physician-assisted suicide, arguing that doing so would violate both their faith and their constitutional rights.
According to LifeSiteNews, the Diocese of Rockville Centre and four communities of Catholic religious sisters filed a federal lawsuit on July 17 challenging New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act, which is scheduled to take effect on August 5. The plaintiffs argue that the law infringes on the First Amendment by compelling Catholic institutions and healthcare providers to act against the Church’s moral teaching on the sanctity of human life.
The Catholic Church teaches that every human life possesses inherent dignity from conception until natural death and rejects assisted suicide as morally unacceptable. Rather than intentionally hastening death, Catholic healthcare ministries seek to accompany those who are suffering with compassionate medical, emotional, and spiritual care.
The lawsuit was filed by the Diocese of Rockville Centre, the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, the Little Sisters of the Poor, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, and the Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict. Each of the ministries cares for vulnerable populations, including the elderly and terminally ill, and maintains that participation in assisted suicide is incompatible with its religious mission.
According to LifeSiteNews, the lawsuit argues that the law’s religious exemptions are too narrow to protect Catholic institutions. Even organizations that qualify for certain exemptions could still be required to provide information about physician-assisted suicide or refer patients to providers who will participate. The complaint also alleges that Catholic physicians and nurse practitioners could be compelled to take part in eligibility reviews or referral processes connected to assisted suicide.
The plaintiffs further contend that the law interferes with the internal governance of religious ministries. According to the lawsuit, Catholic organizations could be prevented from disciplining employees who promote assisted suicide contrary to institutional policy. The complaint also challenges provisions that allegedly require healthcare providers to record a patient’s underlying illness, rather than the administration of lethal medication, as the official cause of death.
One of the ministries, the Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict, says it faces an even greater burden because one of its nursing homes does not qualify for the law’s limited religious exemptions. According to LifeSiteNews, the sisters argue they could be required to allow both the prescribing and administration of life-ending drugs within their facility.
“We are simple nuns whose mission is to serve God – and we do that by offering the aged a home in which to live their final days in peace, tranquility, and comfort, cared for by sisters who see the face of Christ in each person they serve,” Sister Justyna Owsiejko, OSB, said in a statement released through the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. “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 Little Sisters of the Poor also say the law conflicts directly with their vocation of caring for the elderly.
“Our calling is to protect and care for needy seniors, not steer them toward suicide,” Mother Alice Marie Monica said. “We will remain true to that mission, whatever the cost.”
Bishop John Oliver Barres of the Diocese of Rockville Centre said the lawsuit is intended to defend the Church’s centuries-old commitment to protecting human life, especially those who are most vulnerable.
“We will never submit to New York’s culture of death,” Bishop Barres said. “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. The court should protect that millennia-old mission.”
According to LifeSiteNews, the complaint also points to the long history of Catholic healthcare in New York, noting that St. Elizabeth Ann Seton established New York City’s first Catholic hospital during the cholera epidemic of 1849. The lawsuit argues that Catholic religious communities have continued that mission for generations by caring for all people, regardless of financial means, while honoring the dignity of every human life until natural death.
The case will now move forward in federal court as the plaintiffs seek judicial relief before the law is scheduled to take effect on August 5.
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