Hawthorne, New York — A community of Catholic nuns who have spent more than a century caring for terminally ill cancer patients is now fighting to keep doing that work on their own terms.
The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, along with Rosary Hill Home — their licensed skilled nursing facility in Westchester County — filed a federal lawsuit on April 6 challenging New York’s LGBTQ Long-Term Care Facility Residents’ Bill of Rights. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, names Gov. Kathy Hochul and leaders of the state Department of Health as defendants.
At the heart of the case is a 2024 state law that requires long-term care facilities to use residents’ preferred pronouns, assign room placements based on gender identity, and allow residents to use restrooms that match their gender identity. Facilities that refuse face fines and the potential loss of their operating license.
‘To Deny Another’s Sex’
The sisters say complying with those requirements would force them to act against the teachings of the Catholic faith. The complaint argues the law doesn’t just demand different language — it demands a different belief system.
“To demand that a Catholic deny another’s sex is to require him or her to affirm another religious worldview,” the complaint reads.
The sisters submitted a formal exemption request to the state health department before resorting to litigation. After two weeks with no response, they filed suit. The Catholic Benefits Association, which advocates for Catholic employers’ ability to operate within their religious convictions, is supporting the case.
Without a legal exemption, the nuns say they face imminent consequences. “They have not complied and do not intend to comply,” the complaint states.
A Question of Equal Treatment
The lawsuit also raises a discrimination argument. Under New York law, a specific carve-out exists for facilities “whose teachings include reliance on spiritual means through prayer alone” — a provision that effectively covers Christian Science organizations. The sisters argue there’s no principled reason why Catholic institutions operating nursing homes should receive different treatment under the same law.
The New York State Department of Health declined to comment on pending litigation but said it is “committed to following state law,” including provisions barring discrimination based on gender identity.
A Growing Legal Battleground
The case is the latest sign that nursing home religious liberty claims are heading toward open legal conflict with state anti-discrimination statutes. Similar tensions have been building across the country as state legislatures pass LGBTQ protections in care settings and faith-based operators push back through the courts.
For nursing home administrators and compliance officers, the case signals a regulatory environment that’s getting harder to navigate. As SCJ has reported, state-level enforcement of long-term care standards is intensifying, and facilities are facing scrutiny from multiple directions at once.
The federal court case is expected to proceed in the Southern District of New York. No hearing date has been set.
