A coalition of Catholic religious orders, health care ministries and the Diocese of Rockville Centre sued New York on July 17, arguing that the state’s new assisted suicide law forces them to violate their religious beliefs by participating in the practice.
The state’s Medical Aid in Dying Act, signed into law earlier this year, is scheduled to take effect on Aug. 5. The law allows terminally ill, mentally capable adults with a prognosis of six months or less to request and self-administer medication to end their lives.
The federal lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, names New York Attorney General Letitia James, state Health Commissioner James V. McDonald and Michael C. Iannuzzi, interim chair of the state Board for Professional Medical Conduct, as defendants.
The plaintiffs allege the law compels Catholic health care providers to counsel patients about medical aid in dying, provide referrals and otherwise facilitate access to the procedure under the threat of civil, criminal and professional penalties. They are asking the court to “protect their freedom to continue serving the sick and dying in accordance with the Catholic faith.”
The plaintiffs include the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, the Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict, the Little Sisters of the Poor, Catholic Health and Rockville Centre Bishop John O. Barres.
“We will never submit to New York’s culture of death,” Barres said in a statement released by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the legal firm representing the plaintiffs. “Christ the Divine Physician calls us to accompany the sick and dying with compassion, not abandon them to death.”
Becket President Mark Rienzi said New York is “conscripting the nuns who care for them into its suicide cult on pain of crushing fines and professional ruin.” He added that he is confident the federal courts would block the law’s requirements.
