New York Denies Catholic Nuns Religious Freedom
For 125 years, Catholic nuns at Rosary Hill Home have cared for dying cancer patients without charge, never receiving a single complaint. Now New York threatens them with jail time — while exempting Christian Science facilities from the same mandates.
The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne have spent 125 years caring for dying cancer patients who cannot afford nursing care. They accept no insurance, no government funds, and no payments from patients or families. State records show zero complaints against their 42-bed hospice from February 2022 through January 2026, compared with over 55,000 complaints against other New York nursing homes during the same period.
Now the Sisters face jail time for refusing to comply with New York's gender ideology mandates — while Christian Science nursing homes are exempt from the same requirements.
The Sisters filed a federal lawsuit April 6 after state officials refused to grant them a religious exemption from the 2024 LGBTQ Long-Term Care Facility Residents' Bill of Rights. The law requires nursing homes to assign rooms based on self-identified gender, permit cross-sex bathroom access, compel staff to use preferred pronouns at all times, and provide mandatory gender ideology training.
"This was especially disappointing because New York's law provides religious exemption for long-term care facilities affiliated with the Christian Science Church but not for similar Catholic facilities," Martin Nussbaum, counsel for the Sisters, said. "The Sisters were left with no choice but to file suit in federal court."
Rosary Hill Home in Hawthorne, New York, has operated since 1901 as a completely free hospice for indigent terminal cancer patients. The 42-bed facility accepts no insurance, no government funds, and no patient payments, relying entirely on charitable donations. State records show zero complaints received by the Department of Health from February 2022 through January 2026, compared with over 55,000 complaints against other New York nursing homes during the same period.
The Sisters received three enforcement letters from the New York State Department of Health demanding compliance with the gender mandates. The letters, dated March 18, 2024, October 2, 2024, and January 16, 2025, threatened penalties including fines, license revocation, injunctions, and jail time for non-compliance.
The law's requirements directly conflict with Catholic teaching on biological sex. Facilities must assign rooms based on gender identity even over an existing roommate's objection, allow cross-sex bathroom access, use preferred pronouns even when patients are not present, and permit "consensual expression of intimacy or sexual relations" among residents. Staff must undergo mandatory cultural competency training every two years.
Penalties escalate to $2,000 for first violations, $5,000 for repeat offenses, and up to $10,000 or one year in prison for willful violations.
Mother Marie Edward, O.P., General Superior of the Hawthorne Dominicans, said their mission leaves no room for compromise. "We are consecrated religious Sisters and have one mission," she told Fox News Digital. "It is to provide comfort and skilled care to persons dying of cancer who cannot afford nursing care. We do not take insurance or government funds or money from our patients or families. The care is totally free."
The Sisters submitted a formal exemption request March 5, 2026, but received no response from state officials before filing their lawsuit. The law explicitly exempts facilities "whose teachings include reliance on spiritual means through prayer alone for healing" — a provision that covers Christian Science nursing homes but not Catholic facilities.
"We Sisters have taken care of patients from all walks of life, ideologies, and faiths," Mother Marie Edward said. "We treat each patient with dignity and Christian charity. We have never had complaints. We cannot implement New York's mandate without violating our Catholic faith."
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges violations of First Amendment protections for free exercise of religion, free speech, and expressive association, plus Fourteenth Amendment equal protection guarantees. Defendants include Governor Kathy Hochul and state health officials.
Cadence Acquaviva, senior public information officer for the New York State Department of Health, declined to comment on pending litigation. "The NYS Department of Health is committed to following state law, which provides nursing home residents certain rights protecting against discrimination including, but not limited to, gender identity or expression," Acquaviva said.
Sister Stella Mary, O.P., administrator of Rosary Hill Home, invoked their founder's mission in explaining their position. "Our foundress, Mother Alphonsa Hawthorne, charged us to serve those who are 'to pass from one life to another' and to 'make them as comfortable and happy as if their own people had kept them and put them into the very best bedroom,'" she said. "We intend to continue honoring this sacred obligation but need relief from the Court to do so."
The case represents one of the starkest religious freedom conflicts in recent memory. A self-funded Catholic charity serving the dying poor faces jail time for refusing to adopt gender ideology mandates, while a state law carves out specific exemptions for another religious denomination facing identical theological objections.
"New York's gender ideology mandates not only violate our Catholic values, they threaten our existence with fines, injunctions, license revocation, and even jail time," Mother Marie Edward said. "This is why we were forced to go to court to seek protection of our religious exercise and freedom of speech so that we can continue our ministry to the poor."