Margaret Forrester
The rationale used to suspend mental health worker Margaret Forrester was that she was "distributing materials some people may find offensive," seven words lifted from Britain's National Health Service (NHS). The "materials" was a booklet titled "Forsaken--Women From Taunton Talk About Abortion," which is composed of the stories of five women who experienced post-abortion syndrome. The material was informally shared with a colleague last month, not patients, according to the Daily Telegraph.
After a preliminary disciplinary hearing, Miss Forrester told reporters, "The big question they kept asking me was, would I do it again? But I don't think I've done anything wrong, personally or professionally. What I did was not unethical or unprofessional."
She added, "It is about my right to freedom of expression, and freedom of religious belief. There is an authoritarian management at work here, which is encroaching on very basic freedoms. It is a kangaroo court."
Forrester, 39, faces another hearing in January "when, she has been warned, she could be sacked from her job as a psychological wellbeing practitioner for Central North West London Mental Health Trust," according to the Telegraph.
"'The fact that you cannot have an informal discussion with a colleague in the interests of patient care seems unbelievable,' she told the Newspaper. 'I think it is likely that I will be fired.'"
Forrester shared the information because she said she felt the NHS did not give enough information about potential risks associated with abortion. She has worked for the NHS for six years.
"The case is the latest example of Christians who have faced disciplinary action from employers after expressing religious views," the Daily Mail reported.
She told the Mail, "My pro-life views do come from my Christian belief, but a lot of people have a religion. It's not a criminal offence." Forrrester added, "It's in the patient's best interest."
A few days after sharing the booklet, Forrester said she was summoned by her manager and told she was being sent home on 'special leave with full pay' while the trust investigated the incident," the Mail reported. Although ordered to stay away from any NHS site, she said she was later told to go back to work--that she hadn't been suspended.
But Forrester told the Mail she was "put on other duties, which she found 'bullying and offensive', adding: 'I felt physically sickened by their bullying. It shouldn't happen in 21st century Britain.'"
Forrester "eventually signed off on sick leave, and has not been back to the health centre since," according to the Mail.
Contact: Dave Andrusko
Source: National Right to Life
Publish Date: December 23, 2010
