The US Department of Justice is stepping in to support the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, who face penalties under New York state law for refusing to house biological men in women’s rooms or use preferred pronouns at their hospice for the dying poor.
The federal intervention, announced on June 18, 2026, argues that the mandate violates the sisters’ constitutional religious freedoms. The Justice Department said it intended to intervene in the lawsuit filed by the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne against New York state.
