WASHINGTON – Archbishop Ronald Hicks, the Archdiocese of New York, and the Catholic health care ministry ArchCare have joined a lawsuit brought by four orders of Catholic nuns and other Catholic health care ministries against New York’s assisted-suicide mandate. In Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm v. James, Becket is asking a federal court to protect Catholic health care providers from a new law that would force them to help terminally ill patients kill themselves in violation of their faith.

On July 30, New York agreed to an order that temporarily protects the nuns and ministries. Archbishop Hicks is now seeking the same protection for the Catholic health care providers within the Archdiocese of New York.

“As Catholics, we are guided by the compassion of Jesus to serve those of every background who are in need of healing,” said Archbishop Ronald Hicks. “We refuse to allow New York to force us to harm the very ones we’ve been called to care for.”

ArchCare carries on the Catholic Church’s longstanding mission of caring for the sick. ArchCare’s Mercy Hospital is renowned for its end-of-life care, and is the only fully accredited acute care hospital in the U.S. devoted exclusively to the palliative care of adult patients with life-limiting illnesses. ArchCare’s Mother Cabrini Hospital is the only hospital in New York dedicated to the care of children and young adults with serious developmental disabilities and complex medical needs. Through its hospitals, nursing homes, home health services, hospice care, and other specialized programs, ArchCare offers compassionate medical care and loving accompaniment that honors the dignity of every person from birth to natural death. Assisted suicide is entirely antithetical to the healing mission of ArchCare.

Just like 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, the Diocese of Rockville, and Catholic Health, ArchCare and other Catholic health care providers in the Archdiocese of New York cannot prescribe lethal drugs, direct patients to obtain them, or help facilitate a patient’s suicide in any way. New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act threatens to force these ministries to violate their faith by counseling terminally ill patients about assisted suicide, helping them qualify for lethal drugs, and directing them to providers willing to prescribe those drugs. Those who refuse could face significant fines, loss of their professional licenses, and even time behind bars.

“These ministries have dedicated their lives to serving those in the most need of healing and compassion, especially at the end of their lives,” said Adéle Keim, senior counsel at Becket and attorney for the health care ministries. “Assisted suicide is completely incompatible with the compassionate care that the Sisters and ArchCare offer. We are urging the court to protect these Catholic ministries as they continue their life-saving work, rather than forcing them to help end lives like New York wants.”

Becket represents Archbishop Ronald Hicks, the Archdiocese of New York, and ArchCare alongside the Carmelite Sisters, the Dominican Sisters, the Benedictine Sisters, the Little Sisters of the Poor, Bishop John O. Barres, the Diocese of Rockville Centre, and Catholic Health.