MANCHESTER, England (CNS): A Catholic nurse in central England has won a battle over her right to conscientiously object to involvement in abortions.
The nurse, who asked not to be named because of fear of reprisal from her hospital employer, convinced National Health Service managers that her right to conscientious objection was protected by law.
Without anyone going to court, the managers dropped their threat to dismiss the nurse because of her refusal to work in an abortion clinic attached to the hospital in the British Midlands, she told Catholic News Service on April 2.
Managers pointed out to her that she was not being required to perform an abortion but only to prepare women for the procedure, she explained, and that other Catholics – including a eucharistic minister at the local parish – were working in the abortion clinic.
“I said, ‘I can’t be responsible for other people’s beliefs. I can only speak for myself’,” said the nurse, a married mother of two in her early 40s.
“I stood by that,” she said. “I said, ‘I am not happy to do it and I’m standing by my principles’.”
The woman’s ordeal began when she began working additional hours in 2011 after her three-year-old son started attending nursery school.
The nurse said she was not told she would be required to fill in for abortion clinic staff taking time off and that within two months her name appeared on the clinic’s roster.
When she refused to work in the clinic, she was told by managers that she faced dismissal.
She said she turned for advice to her parish priest, who referred her to the Thomas More Legal Centre in Warrington, England.
The centre offered free legal assistance to Christians claiming to be victims of discrimination and harassment because of their faith.
