Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - A federal judge has ordered the state not to enforce its assisted-suicide mandate against four orders of Catholic nuns and several Catholic healthcare ministries while their federal lawsuit proceeds.
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.
In a story we brought you earlier this month, 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 have cared for the sick, elderly, and dying across New York.
They said New York’s law would force them to violate their beliefs by counseling patients about assisted suicide, helping them qualify for lethal drugs, and directing them to providers willing to prescribe those drugs. Those who refused could face significant fines and even time behind bars.
Their lawyers asked a federal court to protect the ministries before New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act takes effect on August 5. New York just agreed that it would not apply the law to them while the court considers their request for a preliminary injunction.
Lawyers say the hearing on Becket’s motion for a preliminary injunction, previously scheduled for Monday, August 3, will now likely be rescheduled to a later date.
