A Christian teacher will launch a legal appeal at an employment tribunal this Friday (Oct. 16) after a school in northern England fired her for expressing pro-life beliefs on abortion.
Anita Meston, 63, worked at Biddick Academy, a state school in Washington, Sunderland, when a Year 8 (12-13 years old) student in a March 2025 history lesson asked if she supported abortion.
Meston replied that her Christian faith and her personal knowledge of women who regretted having abortions led her to a pro-life position. When a student responded they knew of women who had abortions without regret, Meston answered, “Fair enough.”
The headteacher called Meston into a meeting the next day to report that a student had filed a complaint. The headteacher informed Meston that school rules bar teachers from expressing personal views in the classroom and terminated her teaching contract.
Meston replied that she shared her view only after students asked direct questions. She had taught at the school for six months and had recently extended her supply contract.
“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,” Meston said. “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 the national education system continues to claim to foster inclusion and tolerance, this must include tolerance of perspectives with which others disagree, Meston added. With the support of Alliance Defending Freedom International, she said, she is 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, she said.
“What happened to me is nothing short of censorship, and this precedent cannot be allowed to stand,” Meston said.
Jeremiah Igunnubole, legal counsel for ADF UK who represents Meston, said schools must prepare young people to engage with a world of diverse perspectives.
“If teachers lose their jobs solely for views that students or staff disagree with, the next generation will learn that it is acceptable to censor opinions they dislike,” Igunnubole said.
He added that the incident threatens the future of fundamental freedoms in British 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,” Igunnubole said. “A teacher-student relationship that is characterized by fear and self-censorship is antithetical to learning.”
Expressing pro-life and other views in response to a direct question should never result in termination, he said.
“The law protects all employees from discriminatory treatment,” Igunnubole said. “We are supporting Anita to uphold her rights as a Christian in the workplace and to reaffirm that employers cannot fire staff merely because they disagree with their Christian beliefs.”
Meston, who has taught for 28 years, joined Biddick Academy in October 2024 as a French teacher and cover tutor.
ADF UK noted in a statement that students during earlier lessons repeatedly pressed Meston for her thoughts on right-wing political figures, including Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and U.S. President Donald Trump. Meston briefly described both as popular political figures before steering the class back to the lesson. When a student asked if she planned to attend a Reform UK event in February 2025, she confirmed her intention to attend.
