Clause and effect

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MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

New York’s assisted-suicide law promises some conscience protections for medical workers who object.

But religious healthcare providers say the law may still force them to help patients pursue lethal drugs, or face punishment for refusing.

Here’s WORLD Commentator Bethel McGrew.

BETHEL MCGREW: Officially, New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act includes a conscience clause for health care workers who refuse to administer euthanasia. But under previous state law, doctors and nurse practitioners are compelled to inform terminally ill patients about all legal end-of-life options. Once the new law takes effect on August 6th, assisted suicide will become one of them.

The parameters of the carveout are so narrow that religious practitioners will not only be forced to discuss the option, but also forced to guide patients through the qualification process and approve transferrals to a facility providing the lethal drugs. For the 13 plaintiffs currently suing the state, including multiple congregations of nuns and a network of five Catholic Long Island hospitals, this is unacceptable. But the price of defying the law will be high:

ADELE KEIM: New York is using its big stick, and it’s saying if you don’t do our work for us, you know, we’re gonna fine you, and if you persist, and you’re wilful, and you saying absolutely no way, then we could even put you in jail.

That was attorney Adele Keim, speaking on behalf of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, who is currently representing the plaintiffs. In the short term, they are demanding a pause in the law, with a longer-term demand for appropriate accommodations.

Congregations like the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, founded by the daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne, have served New York’s dying poor for generations. Sister Catherine Marie Kauth is proud of their legacy:

SISTER CATHERINE MARIE: We take in patients who have incurable cancer, who have a financial need. We do not charge anything for the care that we give. No money from patient, families, insurance, government in any form. Our care is given out of our love for Christ, our consecration to Christ, and our care given to them is an expression of that love and for God's creatures.

This isn’t the only state law the Sisters of Hawthorne are defying. In April, they filed a separate lawsuit over a 2023 law that would require their policies to comply with transgender ideology. Like the Little Sisters of the Poor under Obamacare, they stand on the front line of the religious liberty wars.

Becket attorney Benjamin Fleshman is not a Catholic or even a member of a Christian denomination. In fact, he is a member of the Mormon Church. But he regards every American’s First Amendment rights as sacred:

BENJAMIN FLESHMAN: I think it really is critical that people understand the need to accommodate religious objectors. Again, I think that goes back to, the very best of our traditions as an American society are providing a space for religious liberty to flourish, and for religious communities, religious individuals to live out their faith in a way that they feel called to do by God.

Bishop John Barres has issued a strong statement on behalf of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, saying “Christ the Divine Physician calls us to accompany the sick and the dying with compassion, not abandon them to death. The court should protect that millennia-old mission.”

In response, the state has offered no comment beyond a brief written statement from Governor Kathy Hochul, assuring everyone that “the Department of Health is working on regulations that will implement the law thoughtfully and responsibly.”

For WORLD, I’m Bethel McGrew.

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