Case update: DOJ Moves to Intervene in First & Fourteenth’s Lawsuit on Behalf of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne Who Are Seeking Relief from New York’s Department of Health Gender Ideology Regulations.
In Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne v. Hochul, the Sisters, members of the Catholic Benefits Association, sought constitutional protection from New York Public Health Law § 2803-c-2, that requires their long-term care facility, Rosary Hill Home, to assign patients dying of cancer based on gender identity rather than biological sex, to use pronouns reflecting patients’ gender identity, and to train their staff in gender ideology practices.
On June 18, 2026, the United States Department of Justice informed the federal court in the Southern District of New York that it wishes to intervene because New York’s law violates the Fourteenth Amendment. Specifically, DOJ argues that the New York law violates the Equal Protection Clause, first, by granting exemption from this statute based upon professional judgment but not religious judgment and, second, by exempting long-term care facilities operating according to the values of the Christian Science Church but not those operating according to the values of the Catholic Church.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon stated: “For more than a century, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne have provided free palliative care to indigent cancer patients in their last days. 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.”
Martin Nussbaum, First & Fourteenth partner and General Counsel for the Catholic Benefits Association, welcomed the DOJ’s intervention, telling the New York Post: “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.”
First & Fourteenth attorneys Martin Nussbaum, Andrew Nussbaum, Lincoln Davis Wilson, and Erin Gust represent the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne in this matter.
Read More Here: DOJ Backs Nuns Caring for Dying Cancer Patients in Fight Against New York Trans Ideology Mandate