A Christian teacher in the United Kingdom says she lost her job after telling a student she is pro-life during a classroom discussion. Her case is now headed to the Newcastle Employment Tribunal.
Anita Meston taught French and humanities at Biddick Academy. She told Fox News Digital she was covering a history lesson on the bombing of Dresden when she asked students to compare it to the conflict between Israel and Gaza, hoping to spark discussion. The conversation drifted to abortion, and a student asked where she stood.
“And I said, ‘No, I’m pro-life,'” Meston recalled. “And she said, ‘Well, what does that mean?'”
Meston explained that her Christian beliefs would stop her from taking part in an abortion if she worked in medicine. She added that she knew women who regretted having abortions. The student replied that she knew women who did not regret theirs.
“And I said, ‘Well that’s fair enough.’ And then we moved back to the lesson, whatever was left of it.”
That exchange, Meston says, cost her the job. She described a meeting with the head teacher who accused her of sharing personal opinions in class before telling her the school could no longer employ her.
“She said, ‘Thank you very much for your service, but we can’t keep you on at the school,'” Meston recalled.
Meston says she was left shaken even though she believes she did nothing wrong.
“Well, it’s shock, isn’t it? And then, also feeling … humiliated in a way. Although I knew that I hadn’t really done anything wrong, you still get that sense that, you know, you’re being kicked out of your job and having to tell other teachers why, and the first teacher I spoke to actually said to me, ‘Well, a lot of us have similar views to you, but we’re not keen. … We’re frightened to express them.'”
A Question of What Teachers Are Allowed to Say
Meston’s attorney, Jeremiah Igunnubole, told Fox News Digital he believes the firing was tied directly to her expression of Christian belief and breaches protections under British law.
“Well, teachers should teach children how to think, not what to think,” Igunnubole said.
He said Meston did not push her views on anyone.
“She did not seek to indoctrinate. She did not seek to impose her beliefs on the students. She simply answered a question,” he said.
The case is now before the Newcastle Employment Tribunal, where a preliminary hearing is set to lay out the arguments and schedule the proceedings ahead.
A spokesperson for The North East Learning Trust, which oversees Biddick Academy, declined to discuss the specifics of Meston’s case, telling Fox News Digital: “While we are not able to comment on this individual case, we have a clear staff code of conduct, which is consistently applied to protect the safety and wellbeing of our children at all times.”
Fox News Digital has also reached out to the Newcastle Employment Tribunal for comment.
