Judge dismisses SPUC case on conscience clause

by Martin Newland A Manchester Medical Secretary who was dismissed from her job for refusing to type referral documents for abortion has lost her appeal against unfair dismissal in the High Court.
Having initially refused to type the referrals she was required to sign a statement expressing her willingness to involve herself in abortion arrangements in the future. After refusing to do so Barbara Janaway was dismissed.
Commenting • after the High Court decision she said: "When it was first demanded by my employers that I should sign such a statement it went counter to all the ideas I had ever known concerning civil liberties."
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, (SPUC), advised Mrs Janaway to pursue her defence by appealing to the "conscience clause" of the 1967 Abortion Act which states that no person should be compelled "to participate in any treatment authorised by this Act to which he has a conscientious objection."
Mr Justice Nolan who heard the appeal said that he found it impossible to link the typing of a referral for an abortion as "thereby participating in the subsequent treatment of a patient in hospital."
Mrs Janaway, undaunted by the High Court ruling, has expressed her determination to continue her fight in the House of Lords and, if necessary, in the European Court of Human Rights.
Mrs Phyllis Bowman, National Director of SPUC, stated that it is unacceptable that there should be a different procedure for hospital personnel and those who are auxiliary workers. "It is ridiculous to claim that one group of workers may not be forced against their conscience to become involved in a particular procedure while others may be compelled to involve themselves in duties resulting in the procedure being carried out," she said.
SPUC claims that there are cases where young trainees have been told that the Conscience Clause applies only to qualified personnel. In the face of an "increasing number of complaints" from nurses, particularly in training, SPUC has undertaken to produce a "conscience card" which lists the duties in which conscientious personnel cannot be forced to become involved.