Support Margaret Forrester, Catholic NHS Worker

Margaret Forrester's tribunal begins on 15 November

This blog has, over the last couple of years highlighted some of those public cases in which the expression of Christianity has been, in the words of Pope Benedict XVI on his visit here, pushed 'out of the public square' and relegated 'only to the private sphere'.

It has to be said that, nearly without exception, those high profile cases have not involved a Catholic 'in the firing line'. Margaret Forrester therefore represents a watershed moment for us Catholics, as one of our sisters is now sharing in the the Lord's Passion and is in danger of being sacked for an expression of the Faith to a work colleague.

The Telegraph documented the story in December of last year. On the 15 November of this year, the Central London Employment Tribunal will hear the case of the 39 year old Mental Health worker who was suspended and disciplined by the Central London NHS Trust for handing a booklet concerning the psychological and emotional realities of abortion, covering case studies of five women who suffered post-abortion syndrome - feelings of guilt, despair, emotional pain or bereavement.  Such a booklet seems like eminently sensible reading for anyone interested in mental health and, in fact, the colleague that Margaret Forrester handed the booklet to, entitled 'Forsaken', was not offended by the booklet. Even though this is, apparently, the case, the Employment Tribunal has decided not to call upon that work colleague for evidence in the hearing.

It has to be said that the NHS has become as devoted to abortion as the most fervent Catholic could be to Christ. It has embraced abortion as a religion. It is one of the defining articles of faith for modern Britain. Nothing can be said against it, since abortion is part of a new religion for a new age which has decided to render God and any form of traditional morality as implausible and obsolete. Anyone who challenges the prevailing orthodoxy on abortion comes in for heavy criticism and is even silenced or loses their livelihood. The injustice of Margaret's treatment is, to we who believe in the fundamental right to life of the unborn, staggering. She has been accused of gross misconduct and yet the injustice being applied to her is gross. Therefore, I join with other bloggers and campaigners on her behalf to both pray for Margaret, and for those who seek to ruin her career for the simple act of raising awareness to a work colleague of the often terrible emotional impact of abortion on women, and, if you possibly can, to contribute to her legal costs.