Catholic nuns in New York are challenging a state law that they say forces them to neglect their beliefs about sex and gender. The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, who operate the Rosary Hill Home, have cared for terminally ill cancer patients for 125 years, filed a complaint against the Southern District of New York, claiming that the state is threatening to shut down their operations unless they “violate their Catholic faith.”
According to the lawsuit filed by the facility, the sisters received three “Dear Administrator Letters” from officials acting on behalf of the New York Department of Health. The first letter was sent in March 2024, a second in October 2024, and a third arrived in January 2025.
The letters stated the nuns were obligated to comply with New York’s LGBTQ Long-Term Care Facility Residents’ Bill of Rights, which mandates that they assign patients to their rooms based on their desired gender identity instead of their sex, “even over the opposition of the roommate.”
Additionally, they are required to address a patient by their chosen pronouns, and “even when the patient is not present, to use language and to “create communities” affirming patients’ sexual preferences, to accommodate patients’ desire for extra-marital relations, and to post notices affirming compliance with these requirements.”
The plaintiffs also say that the law requires that long-term care facilities ensure their staff “undergo ‘cultural competency training indoctrinating them in these practices and in gender ideology.”
They argue that these requirements are in direct opposition to the sisters’ religious beliefs by forcing them to “act against central, unchangeable and architectural teachings of the Catholic faith.”
“It would contradict the teachings of the Bible concerning God’s creative sovereignty, contradict reason and truth, and betray our sacred obligation not to knowingly harm other persons, particularly the most vulnerable,” they said, “The implications are so much greater than whether to utter the words ‘he’ or ‘she.’ Indeed, to demand that a Catholic deny another’s sex is to require him or her to affirm another religious worldview.”
The complaint also identifies Democrat New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and officials from the New York State Department of Health as defendants, all in their official capacities. The Catholic Benefits Association is supporting the sisters in this case.
They also made note of the state statute, which appears to exempt facilities operated by the Church of Christ, Scientist, which it argues shows favoritism to one religious group over another.
“While the mandate includes no general religious organization exemption, it does include a religious exemption narrowly tailored to protect the Church of Christ, Scientist and its affiliates,” the complaint noted. “The exemption states that “The provisions of this article shall not apply to a facility or institution engaged principally in providing services by or under the supervision of the bona fide members and adherents of a recognized religious organization whose teachings include reliance on spiritual means through prayer alone for healing in the practice of the religion of such organization and where services are provided in accordance with those teachings.”
The nuns face the possibility of “fines and license revocation if they continue their current religious practices.” The Sisters continue to stand strong in their convictions with the lawsuit noting that they “have not complied and do not intend to comply. Their injury is therefore immediate.”
They requested that the court declare that the law violates the First and 14th Amendment rights of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne and Rosary Hill Home and their respective agents, employees, and clinical contractors. The complaint also requested that the court prevent the defendants from enforcing the requirements against the plaintiffs as the case remains before the court.