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New York Archdiocese Joins Nuns in Assisted Suicide Lawsuit
· Confirmed
In Short: Archbishop Ronald Hicks of the Archdiocese of New York has joined a lawsuit against New York’s assisted-suicide mandate.
Archbishop Ronald Hicks of the Archdiocese of New York has joined a lawsuit brought by four orders of Catholic nuns and other Catholic healthcare ministries against New York’s assisted-suicide mandate.
The lawsuit, which includes the Archdiocese of New York and ArchCare, a Catholic healthcare ministry, argues that the law forces Catholic healthcare providers to participate in practices contrary to their mission of caring for patients.
Archbishop Hicks stated, 'As Catholics, we are guided by the compassion of Jesus to serve those of every background who are in need of healing.' He added that assisted suicide is entirely antithetical to the healing mission of ArchCare.
The lawsuit, Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm v. State of New York, seeks to protect Catholic ministries from being forced to help end lives, as New York’s law mandates.
According to Ben Fleshman, Counsel at Becket, the lawsuit challenges New York’s assisted suicide mandate that requires healthcare providers to present patients with the option of assisted suicide when giving a terminal diagnosis.
Fleshman noted that the law also requires providers to help patients find a provider for the prescription needed to kill themselves and to state on the death certificate that a patient using assisted suicide died as a result of their terminal illness.
The Archdiocese of New York and attorneys for about 1,300 parishioners who said they were sexually abused by clergy have agreed to an $800 million settlement of their legal claims, the second-largest involving a Catholic archdiocese in the U.S. Archbishop Hicks confirmed this development in an email to clergy.
What this adds
The Archdiocese of New York’s lawsuit is part of a broader legal fight against assisted suicide laws in the U.S., with Catholic plaintiffs arguing that such laws violate core Catholic teachings on the sanctity of life.
The settlement for sexual abuse claims by parishioners is unrelated to the lawsuit against the assisted suicide law, but highlights the complex legal landscape faced by the Archdiocese of New York.
Archbishop Hicks’s involvement in the lawsuit underscores the growing opposition to assisted suicide laws among Catholic leaders and healthcare providers.
Background
Archbishop Ronald Hicks of the Archdiocese of New York has joined a lawsuit brought by four orders of Catholic nuns and other Catholic healthcare ministries against New York’s assisted-suicide mandate.
What's confirmed
- WASHINGTON – Archbishop Ronald Hicks, the Archdiocese of New York and the Catholic healthcare ministry ArchCare have joined a lawsuit brought by four orders of Catholic nuns and other Catholic healthcare ministries against New York’s assisted-suicide mandate.
- Assisted suicide is entirely antithetical to the healing mission of ArchCare.
- Archbishop Hicks is now seeking the same protection for the Catholic healthcare providers within the Archdiocese of New York.
- Archbishop Ronald Hicks joined a suit brought by several orders of religious sisters against the state’s recently instituted suicide regime.
- In addition to the New York ruling, the Catholic objectors in Illinois — which include the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Diocese of Springfield — have secured victories at federal court, with a judge ordering the state to hold off on enforcing suicide rules against them while the suits play out.
- Hicks is the latest Catholic prelate to join the legal fight against assisted suicide in the U.S. A total of four bishops and dozens of religious sisters have sued the governments of New York and Illinois after the states enacted assisted suicide programs.
- The Catholic plaintiffs in that suit argued that the state’s assisted suicide rules would force them to participate in the process of helping suicidal patients kill themselves, a violation of core Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life.
- The archbishop added his name to a lawsuit that includes Rockville Centre Bishop John Barres, the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, the Missionary Sisters of St.
- The Archdiocese of New York says the law would force Catholic hospitals to participate in practices contrary to their mission of caring for patients The Archdiocese of New York has joined a lawsuit challenging New York State’s assisted suicide law, it was announced on Friday, October 30.
- Archbishop of New York Ronald Hicks joined a lawsuit against the state of New York over its new law on assisted suicide.
- The Archdiocese of New York and lawyers for about 1,300 parishioners who said they were sexually abused by clergy have agreed to an $US800 million ($A1.1 billion) settlement of their legal claims, the second-largest involving a Catholic archdiocese in the US Archbishop Ronald Hicks sent an email on Saturday to clergy confirming the settlement after lawyers for the survivors of alleged abuse announced it.
- On July 30, New York agreed to an order that temporarily protects the nuns and ministries.
What's still developing
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- Fleshman told The Center Square that the only religious or conscience “exemptions” in New York’s assisted suicide program are that “if you're a religious hospital or a religious provider, you can refuse to prescribe the drugs or allow patients to self administer on your premises.” The Carmelite Sisters, the Dominican Sisters, the Benedictine Sisters, the Little Sisters of the Poor, Bishop John O.
- “It would be a real loss for that just to go away,” Fleshman said.
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- New York legalized assisted suicide on February 6, 2026, when Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Medical Aid in Dying Act into law; it took effect August 5, 2026.