DOJ backs nuns caring for dying cancer patients in fight against New York trans ideology mandate

The Justice Department is backing a group of Catholic nuns who say New York's transgender policies could force them to choose between their religious beliefs and continuing to care for indigent cancer patients in their final days.

"States should take notice that they cannot require Americans to abandon their religious beliefs in the name of woke gender ideology," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said in a Thursday statement.

"For more than a century, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne have provided free palliative care to indigent cancer patients in their last days," Dhillon added. "New York's law would force these religious women to choose between their faith and their license if they wish to continue serving the dying."

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The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, who operate a home for dying cancer patients in Westchester County, argue New York's law could subject them to fines, loss of their operating license and other penalties if they refuse to comply with requirements related to gender identity, pronouns, room assignments and access to sex-specific facilities.

If the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne do not comply with the New York transgender mandate, they face fines up to $2,000 per violation - rising to $5,000 - court-ordered forced compliance, loss of licensing and up to one year in prison and fines up to $10,000.

The New York transgender mandate, the "Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, and people living with HIV long-term care facility residents' bill of rights," signed into law on Nov. 30, 2023, bans long-term care facilities and staff "from discriminating against any resident on the basis of a resident's actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or HIV status," according to a press release from Hochul's office.

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The sisters say that the New York transgender law would require them to assign rooms by gender identity, not biological sex; allow access to opposite-sex bathrooms; allow expression, relationships and identity practices; use preferred pronouns; require staff training in gender ideology; and post a public notice stating compliance with the law.

In their lawsuit, filed on April 6, the sisters highlighted that during the four-year reporting period from Feb. 1, 2022, through Jan. 31, 2026, the New York State Department of Health had received "zero complaints" from their residents, compared with "more than 55,000 complaints against other nursing homes," and an average of 23 citations per facility during the same period.

Martin Nussbaum, general counsel for Catholic Benefits Association, who is representing the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, told Fox News Digital that the sisters' risk of lost licensing applies both to the entity, Rosary Hill Home, and to its staff members who are professionally licensed.

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"Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's formal certification of Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne v. Hochul as a case of 'general public importance' sends a welcome signal that a state's policy preference for gender ideology does not trump the protection for religious freedom embedded in our country's DNA," Nussbaum said.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said "This is just another sad attempt by the Trump administration to weaponize the justice system to attack political opponents in an election year. New York's decision to move to a single fiscal intermediary has already saved taxpayers more than a billion dollars while deterring fraud, waste and abuse. As many courts have already held, the transition to a single fiscal intermediary was lawful and appropriate. We are confident the facts are on our side."

Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.