A federal judge issued an order July 30 temporarily prohibiting the state of New York from enforcing its assisted suicide law against four orders of Catholic nuns and several Catholic healthcare ministries. The order shields the Catholic entities while their federal lawsuit proceeds.

Key Takeaways:

• A federal judge temporarily shielded several Catholic orders and healthcare organizations from a New York law allowing assisted suicide.

• The Catholic plaintiffs had filed a lawsuit last month against the state's assisted suicide law, arguing it violated their religious beliefs.

• The order protects the Catholic organizations while their federal lawsuit proceeds.

The Backstory:

In mid-July, a coalition of Catholic plaintiffs, including the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, the Little Sisters of the Poor, the Diocese of Rockville Centre, and Catholic Health, filed a lawsuit against the state of New York, arguing that the state's law allowing assisted suicide violated their religious beliefs.

The plaintiffs, many of whom run homes for the elderly or infirmed, said the legislation would force them to take part in assisted suicide. As Live Action News previously reported, "[The plaintiffs] say that the law compels them to counsel patients who are deemed 'terminally ill' about assisted suicide, make referrals to doctors willing to carry out assisted suicide, and even allow assisted suicide deaths to be carried out in their facilities."

New York's "Medical Aid in Dying Law" is slated to go into effect on August 5. It will allow adults with a terminal diagnosis of six months or less to live to choose assisted suicide.

The Details:

On July 30, U.S. District Judge Anne Naracci temporarily shielded the religious orders and health care ministries involved in the lawsuit from the state's law. According to the Becket Fund, "the temporary agreement protects the ministries from being forced to help terminally ill patients end their lives via suicide in direct violation of their faith."

Naracci's order also gave the state an August 20 deadline for New York Attorney General Letitia James to respond to the emergency injunction.

“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, said Mark Rienzi, president of Becket and lead attorney for the healthcare ministries. "This agreement protects the sisters and those they care for while we fight to end New York’s suicide mandate for good.”

Mother Mary Rose Heery, prioress general of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, said the temporary ruling will allow her order to continue providing true care.

"Families entrust their loved ones to us because they know our homes will be places of tenderness, dignity, and faithful care," she said. "We are grateful that we can continue honoring that trust and remain beside every resident until the very end."

The Bottom Line:

In a statement, Bishop John O. Barres of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, emphasized that legislation allowing assisted suicide violates the teachings of the Catholic church.

"New York cannot force the Church to answer suffering with suicide or abandon the sick and dying when they need care most. Until our legal fight is resolved, this temporary agreement keeps our ministries free to serve every patient according to the Gospel," he said. "We continue to proclaim that every human life is sacred and worthy of love until its natural end.”