Victory for Margaret Forrester, a Christian mental health worker who
was told today that she would be restored to work and even offered a
better job, following her suspension for expressing her private views
on abortion to colleagues.
Margaret Forrester was
suspended by her NHS employers after she mentioned privately to
colleagues her concerns about the information women were given prior
to having an abortion. She shared with colleagues, not members of the
public, a booklet containing stories of women who have struggled with
post-abortion syndrome in order that they might have the full picture
when advising women discussing their unexpected pregnancy.
Soon afterwards, Ms Forrester was suspended from work for
'distributing materials some people may find offensive'. Today, after
the intervention of the Christian Legal Centre, she has been offered,
and accepted, an even better position at another location.
Margaret Forrester said: "I am pleased to have been offered an even
better job after the intervention of the Christian Legal Centre. It
was incredible that I was suspended in the first place, just because I
expressed a personal opinion. I should be able to express my opinion
privately without fear and act freely in good conscience. Today is a
victory for freedom of speech. I want to thank all of those who have
prayed for me and supported me during this time, especially Standing
Counsel Paul Diamond and all of those at the Christian Legal Centre
who have stood by me and helped to secure this result."
Andrea Minichiello Williams, CEO of the CLC, said:
"We
are thrilled that we were able to stop the injustice that was being
perpetrated against Margaret Forrester. We are pleased that she can
continue to work with vulnerable people and we wish her well in her
new role."
Watch Margaret and Andrea Minichiello Williams comment on the decision.
In another piece of good news, a Christian nurse who was prevented from wearing her cross at work has, with the help of the Christian Legal Centre, been allowed to return to work without having to remove her cross.
The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.