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EXCLUSIVE — The attorney representing four orders of Catholic nuns challenging New York’s assisted suicide law says the case extends far beyond end-of-life care, arguing it will test whether the government can force religious ministries to act against their beliefs.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Becket senior counsel Adèle Keim said a recent federal court ruling temporarily protecting the nuns from complying with the law, which went into effect Wednesday, preserves their ability to continue caring for elderly patients according to their Catholic faith while the legal challenge moves forward.
“If you care about freedom, you should care about this case, because if the government can force its way into a home that’s been owned and operated by a group of Catholic nuns for 150 years and order the nuns around and tell them what they can do, there’s nothing that that government’s not going to try to force its way into,” Keim told Fox News Digital in an interview Wednesday.
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The Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm. (The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty)
“There’s nothing that the government isn’t going to try to force people to do,” Keim said. “So, if you care about freedom, you should care about what the state can do in this case.”
A federal judge ruled July 30 that orders of nuns will not be forced under state law to recommend medically assisted suicide to their patients while their case is litigated.
The lawsuit, filed July 17 in federal court by over 10 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, argues New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act compels religious healthcare providers to counsel terminally ill patients about physician-assisted suicide, make referrals to participating providers and, in some cases, accommodate assisted suicide in their facilities.
“New York just passed a law legalizing assisted suicide, and it told providers in the state, ‘Hey, you have to counsel your patients about the benefits of assisted suicide, and you have to help hook them up with a provider who can provide assisted suicide to them if you’re not going to do it yourself,’” Keim said.
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The Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm. (The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty)
“The nuns came into court and said, ‘We can’t do that,’ two weeks ago, and a federal court ruled that they don’t have to while their case proceeds,” she added.
New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act, which was signed into law in February, allows adults 18 and older who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness and given six months or less to live to request and self-administer life-ending medication if they are experiencing immense suffering, according to Compassion and Choices, which supports the new law.
“This case is about whether people in the United States can join together and care for one another at the end of life without having the state come in over the top and impose orthodoxy like, ‘Assisted suicide might be good for you, you should check it out,’” Keim said.
“The sisters are standing together in solidarity with each other,” she continued. “They’re also standing in solidarity with their residents and the residents’ families who chose Catholic homes for their loved ones because they wanted Catholic care at the end of their life.”
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A Dominican Sister of Hawthorne hugs a resident. (Photo: Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne)
“We’re asking New York to take a beat, to consider what they’re doing,” Keim added. “They say this law is about increasing choice, but if you’re forcing Catholic nuns to offer assisted suicide to their residents, you’re not increasing choice for anybody. You’re shutting choice down.
“The next step is for the court to consider the arguments from both sides and make an initial ruling, and we’re hoping within the next two to six months that we’ll hear from the court,” she said. “We’re hoping it’ll be good news.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul highlighted that the law took effect Wednesday.
She also referred Fox News Digital to an earlier statement from Hochul, which read, “While we cannot comment on any pending litigation, under this historic legislation, participation is entirely voluntary, and religious facilities have the right to opt out if they choose to do so.”
“What this law does is allow terminally ill New Yorkers with less than six months to live to make a voluntary, informed decision. It reflects years of thoughtful planning and consideration,” Hochul continued. “The Department of Health is working on regulations that will implement the law thoughtfully and responsibly.”
A Dominican Sister of Hawthorne sits with a resident. (Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne)
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Fox News Digital reached out to New York Attorney General Letitia James for comment but did not immediately receive a response.