A Christian teacher in Sunderland, who was dismissed after expressing pro-life beliefs when honestly answering a question from a student during a lesson, is taking legal action against her former employer for discrimination.
Anita Meston, 63, whose legal action is supported by free-speech legal advocacy organization Alliance Defending Freedom, was dismissed by Biddick Academy, a state school in Washington, Sunderland, after saying that she was pro-life in response to a question. Meston was teaching a Year 8 history lesson when the topic was brought up spontaneously by a student.
During the lesson, the student asked if she was “pro-abortion,” to which she responded that she was “pro-life”. In a different lesson, students also questioned Meston about her political views, to which she responded briefly before directing students back to the lesson topic.
The following day, Meston was summoned to a meeting with the school’s headteacher, who informed her that a complaint had been made about the lesson and asked what had happened. At the end of the meeting, the headteacher informed Meston that she was not allowed to give her personal views in the classroom—despite the fact that she had only answered the questions briefly and honestly—and that her contract would be terminated.
Meston had been working full-time as a supply teacher at Biddick Academy for six months, and her contract with the school had been renewed the previous week. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 16 October 2026 at the Employment Tribunal.
Anita Meston stated:
“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.
“If our national education system continues to claim to foster inclusion and tolerance, this must include tolerance of perspectives with which others disagree. With the support of Alliance Defending Freedom, I am 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. What happened to me is nothing short of censorship, and this precedent cannot be allowed to stand.”
Jeremiah Igunnubole, barrister and Legal Counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom in London, commented:
“The purpose of education is to form young people who can engage with the world around them, and this inevitably includes encountering people with different perspectives. If teachers are dismissed solely for views that students or staff disagree with, the next generation will learn that it is acceptable to censor opinions they dislike. This does not bode well for the future of fundamental freedoms in our 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. A teacher-student relationship that is characterised by fear and self-censorship is antithetical to learning.
“It is unacceptable that expressing pro-life and other views in response to a question can result in a person being terminated. The law protects all employees from discriminatory treatment. We are supporting Anita to ensure her rights as a Christian in the workplace are upheld and to reaffirm the principle that employers cannot fire staff merely because they disagree with their Christian beliefs.”
Background
Meston, who has been teaching for 28 years, had joined Biddick Academy in October 2024, primarily teaching French in the Modern Languages department and occasionally covering other subjects as needed. She was also serving as a form tutor to a class of Year 10 students.
During her time at Biddick Academy, a group of students repeatedly asked Meston for her views on Nigel Farage and Donald Trump during her lessons, to which she responded briefly that they were both popular politicians before returning to the subject of the lesson.
One pupil also asked Meston if she would be attending a Reform UK party conference in February 2025, after Meston had encountered a student at a Reform UK event on a previous occasion. Meston said she would be attending.
Meston did not force her views on students at any point.
In March 2025, Meston had been asked to cover a history lesson discussing the proportionality of the 1945 bombing of Dresden. In an attempt to engage the class, Meston asked whether similar moral issues surrounded the current Israel-Palestine conflict, at which point one student affirmed that he was “pro-Israel” and asked whether Meston was too. She responded that she was, but lamented that innocent people in Gaza were caught in the conflict. Later in the lesson, a different student asked if she was “pro-abortion”, to which she responded that she was “pro-life”.
When asked to elaborate on her pro-life position, Meston explained that she held this view because she is a Christian and that she knew women who had had abortions and regretted the decision. A student replied that she knew women who had had abortions and not regretted them, to which Meston responded, “fair enough.”
In her meeting with the headteacher, Meston noted that she only shared her personal views in response to direct questions from students; namely, about her stance on abortion, and the question about her views on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Shortly before dismissing her, the headteacher asked if Meston had mentioned Donald Trump during the same lesson, to which she responded in the negative.
Ongoing Censorship Of Pro-Life Beliefs
The UK Equality Act prohibits discrimination against another on account of a “protected characteristic”, which includes “religion or belief.” Pro-life beliefs fall under this category as they constitute Christians’ deeply-held convictions on the nature and value of human life.
Nevertheless, individuals holding pro-life beliefs continue to face discrimination in the UK. In 2024, Scottish health authorities investigated and suspended midwifery student and ADF client Sara Spencer, following a complaint about her pro-life comments in a private Facebook group, while in 2025, a teacher in Angus was also dismissed for expressing pro-life beliefs in answer to a student’s question.
The case of Anita Meston raises further concerns about the deterioration of free speech in the UK, where pro-life, Christian and conservative views face increasing censorship.
Across the country, ADF supports several individuals who have been arrested under censorial “buffer zone” laws, which have been used to criminalise silent prayer and offering consensual conversations.
ADF is also supporting Dia Moodley, a Bristol-based pastor and street evangelist who was twice arrested and on another occasion threatened with arrest under public order legislation for peacefully preaching Christian beliefs.
