Court spares New York nuns — for now — from complying with assisted dying law

(RNS) — A federal court says New York nuns don’t have to assist in killing their patients just yet.

You read that right.

As of Wednesday (Aug. 5), New York state’s Medical Aid in Dying Act is in effect, meaning residents who have six months or fewer to live can now get a prescription to end their life.

But, thanks to a lawsuit brought on the nuns’ behalf by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, Catholic hospitals and nursing homes are exempt. For now.

The ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York last week grants the nuns, the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, a temporary order that keeps the state of New York from requiring them to offer euthanasia to the people in their care. Benedictine Sisters who run St. Joseph’s Home for the Aged, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, the Little Sisters of the Poor, Catholic Health and the Catholic Diocese of Rockville Center joined in the lawsuit.

What have we come to?

The New York law is not a simple permission slip for doctors to give more morphine. It requires all health care providers to either provide patients with suicide medication, if they request it, or transfer them to another…