The Justice Department has entered a legal battle on the side of a group of Catholic nuns challenging a New York law they say threatens their ability to provide end-of-life care for indigent cancer patients without violating their religious beliefs.
According to Fox News, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, who operate Rosary Hill Home in Westchester County, argue that the state’s Transgender requirements place them in an impossible position by forcing them to choose between following their faith and maintaining their license to operate.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said the administration believes the case is about protecting religious liberty.
“States should take notice that they cannot require Americans to abandon their religious beliefs in the name of woke gender ideology,” Dhillon said in a statement.
She added that the sisters have spent more than 100 years providing free palliative care to terminally ill cancer patients and warned that New York’s policy could jeopardize that mission.
The lawsuit challenges New York’s “Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, and people living with HIV long-term care facility residents’ bill of rights,” which became law in 2023.
The measure bars long-term care facilities from discriminating against residents based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or HIV status.
According to the lawsuit, the sisters believe the law would require them to assign rooms based on gender identity instead of biological sex, allow access to opposite-sex bathrooms, use preferred pronouns, provide staff training on gender identity, and publicly state they comply with the policy.
The nuns argue that refusing to follow those requirements could expose them to fines, court-ordered compliance, loss of their operating license, and additional penalties. Court filings state violations could result in fines beginning at $2,000 per incident and increasing to $5,000.
The lawsuit also highlights the facility’s record of care. According to the filing, the New York State Department of Health received no complaints about Rosary Hill Home during a four-year reporting period, while other nursing homes accumulated more than 55,000 complaints over the same span.
Martin Nussbaum, general counsel for the Catholic Benefits Association, said the Justice Department’s support sends a strong message that religious freedom protections remain important when states adopt policies involving gender identity.
A spokesperson for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul criticized the federal government’s involvement, calling it another attempt by the Trump administration to use the justice system against political opponents. The governor’s office said it remains confident the state’s law is lawful and will prevail in court.