Christian teacher sacked after saying she is ‘pro-life’ sues school for discrimination

Ms Meston had been working full-time as a supply teacher at the secondary school for six months, and her contract with the school had been renewed the previous week.

During her lesson, a student asked if she was “pro-abortion”, to which she responded that she was “pro-life”.

In a different lesson, Ms Meston was also questioned about her political views, to which she responded briefly before directing students back to the lesson topic.

Following the conversations, the Christian woman was summoned into a meeting with the headteacher the following day.

The headteacher revealed a complaint had been made about the lesson and Ms Meston was informed that she was not allowed to give her personal views in the classroom, and so her contract would be terminated.

In a statement, Ms Meston said she was “profoundly shocked” by what had happened.

She said: “I am profoundly shocked by Biddick Academy’s decision to dismiss me for my faith-based pro-life beliefs and other mainstream personal and political views.

“I do not believe it is a teacher’s role to impose beliefs unrelated to the lesson in the classroom. I merely acknowledged my students’ questions and provided truthful answers before redirecting them back to the lesson at hand.

“If our national education system continues to claim to foster inclusion and tolerance, this must include tolerance of perspectives with which others disagree.”

Ms Meston concluded: “With the support of Alliance Defending Freedom, I am now taking legal action against Biddick Academy to ensure nobody else faces discrimination for expressing pro-life beliefs.

“In a free and just society, teachers should not be fired for honestly expressing their deeply held beliefs in response to questions in the classroom. What happened to me is nothing short of censorship, and this precedent cannot be allowed to stand.”

Jeremiah Igunnubole, barrister and Legal Counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, said “if teachers are dismissed solely for views that students or staff disagree with, the next generation will learn that it is acceptable to censor opinions they dislike”.

He said: “The purpose of education is to form young people who can engage with the world around them, and this inevitably includes encountering people with different perspectives.

“This does not bode well for the future of fundamental freedoms in our society. Schools are places of learning, and teachers should be able to accompany students as they grapple with moral and social issues, including by offering truthful answers to their questions.

“A teacher-student relationship that is characterised by fear and self-censorship is antithetical to learning. It is unacceptable that expressing pro-life and other views in response to a question can result in a person being terminated.

“The law protects all employees from discriminatory treatment. We are supporting Anita to ensure her rights as a Christian in the workplace are upheld and to reaffirm the principle that employers cannot fire staff merely because they disagree with their Christian beliefs.”

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for October 16, 2026 at the Employment Tribunal.

A spokesman for Biddick Academy told GB News: “While we are not able to comment on this individual case, we have clear staff code of conduct, which is consistently applied to protect the safety and wellbeing of our children at all times.”