This post is an update to the one we published last month about religious groups in New York and an assisted suicide law.
Groups of Catholic nuns and healthcare ministries in New York are used to government bureaucrats trampling all over their faith. The state tried to force them to offer abortion coverage in employee health insurance plans.
Now New York wants religious healthcare providers to help kill terminally ill patients.
The groups filed a lawsuit last month against the state to stop enforcement of the law. The plaintiffs were trying to beat the deadline: the law went into effect on August 5.
Becket Law, their legal counsel, said the religious providers would face significant fines and license revocation for refusing to go against their faith. The state cannot force religious organizations to offer services that conflict with their faith or pay for these services.
Becket Law announced that the plaintiffs have received a temporary reprieve. A federal court ordered the state not to enforce the law against the providers while the lawsuit proceeds.
“Our home exists so that elderly people can spend their final days surrounded by peace, prayer, and the Sisters who love them,” said Sister Justyna Owsiejko, O.S.B., Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict. “For now, they can rest assured that assisted suicide will not be forced into the sanctuary they call home.”
Photo credit: BECKET
