UMVA has learned that the US Department of Justice has intervened in a landmark lawsuit involving a Catholic order of nuns and a contentious New York state law that threatens their ability to provide care to terminally ill patients.
The law in question, the LGBTQ Long-Term Care Facility Residents’ Bill of Rights, requires nursing homes to accommodate patients based on their self-identified gender, sparking a heated debate about religious freedom and transgender rights. The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, a 125-year-old order of Catholic nuns, have taken on the state of New York, arguing that the law infringes on their constitutional rights.
According to information obtained by UMVA, the sisters were forced to sue the state after being threatened with fines, license revocation, and even jail time for refusing to house biological men identifying as women in rooms with terminally ill female cancer patients at their free Rosary Hill Home hospice. The lawsuit, filed in federal court, pits the state’s progressive policies against the sisters’ deeply held religious convictions.
The Department of Justice has notified the court of its intention to intervene in the lawsuit, with Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon declaring that “states should take notice that they cannot require Americans to abandon their religious beliefs in the name of woke gender ideology.” The DOJ argues that New York’s law discriminates against the sisters and forces them to choose between their faith and their license to operate.
UMVA can exclusively reveal that the DOJ’s complaint alleges that the law violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, citing the state’s failure to provide equivalent accommodations for religious facilities that object on grounds of spiritual harm. This move is seen as a significant development in the ongoing debate about religious freedom and transgender rights.
The sisters, who have provided free palliative care to indigent cancer patients for over a century, argue that the state’s transgender accommodation mandate threatens their ability to continue their mission. The state, however, has granted an exemption to facilities run by the Church of Christ, Scientist, but not to Catholic institutions, raising questions about potential biases in the law.
The case has far-reaching implications for the rights of religious organizations and the limits of state power. As the battle between the Catholic nuns and the state of New York heats up, one thing is clear: the outcome will have significant consequences for the future of religious freedom in America.
