The War on the Nuns

Men and women who live sacrificial lives in service to others are typically regarded with great respect. Historically, nuns shine as exemplars of authentic social justice outreach, garnering universal respect down through the ages. 

That began to change a decade ago when the Obama administration applied pressure on the Little Sisters of the Poor  to provide artificial contraception and abortifacients to their clients.

Let’s take a look at the war on the nuns, and its relevance to the pro-life movement.

What did the Obama administration do that led to a legal challenge by The Little Sisters of the Poor?

With the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010 which mandated the inclusion of abortifacients and artificial contraception in healthcare plans, the Little Sisters of the Poor refused, citing First Amendment religious liberty arguments. The government threatened them with annual multi million dollar fines, and even potential jail time for refusal.

Was the Obama administration willing to provide an accommodation?

Yes, but the Sisters rejected it on the basis that the opt-out form still made them complicit in providing abortifacients and artificial contraception in violation of the First Amendment and the Freedom Restoration Act.

What happened when the first Trump administration came to office?

They exempted them from the mandate, but pro-abortion attorney generals from Pennsylvania and New Jersey sued the federal government to invalidate the exemption, insisting that nuns violate their consciences and provide abortifacients and artificial contraception.

In all, how many times did the Little Sisters have to go before the Supreme Court to protect their religious liberty?

Three times in all: 2013/14 (appealing for an injunction, which they received); 2016 (Zubik v Burwell); and 2020 (Little Sisters of the Poor v Pennsylvania).

What’s the story on the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne?

They’re in court because of a new transgender law passed by the New York legislature. It requires that care facilities, such as the Rosary Hill Home operated by the sisters, assign residents to rooms based on their gender identity rather than their biological sex. Nor can they be prohibited from using the restroom of their choice. This is a facility that operates to make the dying poor comfortable by affirming their dignity and the value of their final days on earth.

What’s the Sisters’ beef?

They say it compels them to “act against central, unchangeable and architectural teachings of the Catholic faith … Indeed, to demand that a Catholic deny another’s sex is to require him or her to affirm another religious worldview.” Their request for an exemption was ignored by the state. The Sisters of Hawthorne face fines and revocation of their license if they lose in court.

There’s more legal squabbling going on in New York involving multiple orders of Catholic nuns. What are they all about?

The Carmelite Dominican, Benedictine Sisters, and other orders are suing New York Governor Kathy Hochul and the state over their assisted suicide law. The law, assert the sisters, “conscripts them into facilitating patient suicide by forcing religious facilities to counsel patients on the option and coordinate transfers to facilities that perform the procedures, despite their severe theological objections to ending a life.”

Do the Little Sisters of the Poor take money from the government?

No. They are sustained by private donations. Their work is pure social justice charity.

Do Sisters of Hawthorne take money from the government?

No. They, too, are sustained by private donations. Their work is pure social justice charity.

This poses a vexing question. Why do pro-death legislators, governors, and attorney generals continue their unrelenting war on the nuns? Despite one loss after another in the courts, these politicians don’t relent. Why?

It seems obvious. If they can defeat the nuns and make them bow down to Federal and States’ anti-life laws, they can make anyone do it.

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