Image: Alliance Defending Freedom
A Christian teacher is pursuing legal action after she was dismissed from her employment at Biddick Academy in Washington, Tyne and Wear, seemingly for expressing her pro-life beliefs.
63-year-old, Anita Meston, though a French teacher at Biddick Academy, was covering a History lesson, back in March 2025, when she was asked a range of topical questions by students, both regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict and the topic of abortion. At one point in the lesson, a student asked Meston if she is “pro-abortion”, to which she responded by saying she is “pro-life”. Meston was asked to expand on her position, and she did so, making clear that her pro-life stance was, in part, because she is a Christian, but also because of the experience of friends who had had abortions and regretted them. A student then said that they knew women who had had abortions and not regretted them. In response, Meston said: “fair enough”.
The next day, the school’s headteacher informed Meston that a complaint had been submitted against her. Meston clarified that she had shared her views only in response to the student’s questioning. Meston was later told that her contract with the Academy would be terminated.
Fast forward to October 2026, and Meston, with the support of the Alliance Defending Freedom, is suing Biddick Academy for discriminating against her as a Christian, a “protected characteristic” under the UK Equality Act. Summarising the case, Meston 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.”
The Alliance Defending Freedom have said that a preliminary hearing is scheduled for 16th October 2026 at the Employment Tribunal.
SPUC Comment
Observant readers will note that this case is incredibly similar to that of Sarah Morse, the teacher in Arbroath, Scotland, who was dismissed from her teaching position after she made her pro-life beliefs clear in response to a student’s question on abortion. Represented legally by SPUC, Morse was successful in her challenge, as the school agreed to settle before it could get to an Employment Tribunal.
Commenting on both cases, SPUC’s Communications Manager, Peter Kearney, had the following to say:
“I am astounded that a case of this nature is being played out once again. Biddick Academy have seemingly shown an appalling unwillingness to expose their students to alternative viewpoints. A brief perusal of the Academy’s website reveals that one of their nine “principles” of “Equality and Diversity” is that they “recognise and respect difference”. It seems their recognition of difference only goes so far!
“The parallels between this case and that of Sarah Morse are not lost on me, and I hope the outcome is as favourable for Anita Meston as it was for Sarah and SPUC!”
SPUC awaits with interest the outcome of the preliminary hearing.
