Religious groups that provide end-of-life care are suing the state of New York. They say the state’s new assisted suicide law violates their freedoms of religion and speech.
Ten plaintiffs, including the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, The Little Sisters of the Poor, and the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, are trying to stop the law before it takes effect on August 5th.
Benjamin Fleshman, an attorney for Becket, which argues religious liberty cases and is representing the plaintiffs involving four orders of Catholic nuns and several Catholic health care ministries in the case against New York, told CBN News the law forces them to help terminally ill patients kill themselves in violation of their faith.
“They want to be able to continue to do what they’ve done for over a hundred years and provide that compassionate, loving, Christ-focused care to these patients without having to sacrifice their religious beliefs to do so,” he said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said the law safeguards “the right to bodily autonomy” by giving patients who have been diagnosed with less than six months to live the option of taking life-ending drugs. New York is the 14th state to allow assisted suicide. It is said to be one of the worst when it comes to religious freedom.
New York’s assisted suicide law allows some medical providers to opt out of administering the life-ending drugs for religious reasons. However, Fleshman said the state still requires them to counsel terminally ill patients about every available option, which will include suicide. The state often forces the workers to help the patients meet the requirements for assisted suicide.
“If they’re not willing to prescribe the drugs themselves, they have to help the patient find somebody else who will do that,” he said.
Mother Mary Rose Heery, O. Carm., Prioress General of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, issued this statement through Becket: “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. This law strikes at the heart of that vocation.”
Mother Marie Edward, O.P., Superior General of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, also spoke out. “For over 125 years, we have ministered to the poor who are dying of cancer as if they were Christ Himself,” she said. “Our calling is to offer comfort, prayer, and loving medical care to those in their final days—not death. We pray the court will protect our freedom to remain faithful to that ministry God has entrusted to us.”
Bishop John O. Barres of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, NY, said, “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. The court should protect that millennia-old mission.”
Violating the law, however, could threaten the very existence of their ministries.
“That includes fines for every time that you refuse to refer somebody or help them obtain assisted suicide drugs,” Fleshman said. “It also could include some jail time. There are criminal sanctions that could be imposed and professional sanctions for any doctors who refuse to prescribe these drugs or who refuse to refer people to receive these drugs.”
On July 17, 2026, Becket filed a federal lawsuit at U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York challenging the mandate. Fleshman said they’re petitioning the court for an interim injunction and ultimately seek permanent protection for the plaintiffs to care for terminally ill patients without being forced to take part in, or even discuss, suicide.
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