A midwifery student in Scotland was suspended from her training placement with NHS Fife over comments on a private Facebook forum explaining her conscientious objection to performing abortions.
In an interesting twist, the incident has unintended international implications given the fact that the student is a US citizen, and the UK Prime Minister recently reassured the US government over concerns around protections for freedom of speech in the UK and which might effect US citizens.
Sara Spencer, a 30-year-old mother of three, who is originally from the US, was suspended and subjected to a fitness-to-practise investigation as a result of comments made on a private midwifery Facebook group in which she responded to a post asking: “Do midwives have anything to do with abortions, and can they refuse to take part in carrying them out because of their beliefs?”
