A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order blocking New York state from enforcing its “Medical Aid in Dying Act” against several Catholic healthcare ministries and religious orders.
The act, set to take effect August 5, will allow adults who are deemed mentally competent to choose assisted suicide if they have been estimated to have 6 months or less to live. Religious ministries argued it violates their religious beliefs by forcing them to tell those patients they can commit assisted suicide.
Groups of nuns, who have been fighting for their constitutional religious freedoms, applauded the latest development. The groups 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, and the Diocese of Rockville Centre.
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Mother Mary Rose Heery, prioress general of the Carmelite Sisters, said, “Families entrust their loved ones to us because they know our homes will be places of tenderness, dignity, and faithful care. We are grateful that we can continue honoring that trust and remain beside every resident until the very end.”
Mark Rienzi, president of the religious liberty law firm Becket, is the lead attorney for the healthcare ministries. He said, “Forcing Catholic nuns to participate in suicide—and robbing New Yorkers of the choice to receive faithful, life-affirming care—is both unlawful and unjust. This agreement protects the sisters and those they care for while we fight to end New York’s suicide mandate for good.”
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New York’s assisted suicide law does allow some medical providers to opt out of administering the life-ending drugs for religious reasons. However, Benjamin Fleshman, another attorney for Becket, said the state still required them to counsel terminally ill patients about every available option, including 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.
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