Christian Doctor Removed from Adoption Panel for Not Endorsing Homosexual Adoptions

By The Christian Post on July 21st, 2009

imagesbannerscp_120x60Reprinted by permission of the Christian Post

By Ethan Cole
Christian Post Reporter
Tue, Jul. 21 2009 12:11 PM EDT

A Christian doctor in England was removed from an adoption panel because she refused to endorse applications by gay couples.

Pediatrician Dr. Sheila Matthews had requested to abstain from voting in cases of same-sex couples, as she has done for the past five years. But the Northhamptonshire County Council said it decided to instead replace her on the panel because her view on gay adoption did not comply with England’s new Equity Law, as reported by U.K.’s the Daily Mail.

The Equity Law forbids discrimination against homosexuals or transsexuals in terms of access to goods and services, including adoption agencies. Under the controversial law, even religious institutions and churches are forced to hire open, practicing homosexuals.

j0438654Matthews said both as a medical doctor and as a Christian she cannot recommend placing a child with same-sex parents despite what the new legislation calls for. Men and women, she explains, bring different characteristics to parenting. Mothers are more nurturing while fathers are more challenging, Matthews said according to the U.K. newspaper. The pediatrician claims children of gay adoptive parents are more likely to be bullied.

“I don’t feel that placing children for adoption with same-sex couples is the best place for them,” said Matthews. “As a Christian, I don’t believe it’s an appropriate lifestyle and I don’t believe the outcomes for children would be as good as if they were placed with heterosexual couples.”

Although she requested to abstain from voting in same-sex couple cases, Matthews has been reporting on the health of prospective adoptive parents, including gay couples, to the panel for the past five years. She has indicated that she wants to continue to analyze the candidates’ health qualification but just abstain from voting if they are a gay couple.

But the Council has decided to remove her from the panel altogether.

Matthews has appealed the Council’s decision and said she may take the case to the employment tribunal over religious discrimination.

The case of the Christian doctor penalized for her views on gay adoption follows reports earlier this year of Catholic adoption agencies in the United Kingdom threatening to shut down if they are forced to work with gay couples due to the Equality Law. The Catholic Church in the U.K. has argued that the rights of homosexuals are given priority over the rights of Christians.

Copyright 2009 The Christian Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Note: Reader comments are reviewed before publishing, and only salient comments that add to the topic will be published. Profanity is absolutely not allowed and will be summarily deleted. Spam, copied statements and other material not comprised of the reader’s own opinion will also be deleted.

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Categories: News
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  • Paul G
    Dr Sheila Matthews was treated exactly the same as her other colleagues on the adoption panel by her employer and expected to work within the legal requirements to consider same sex couples applications for adoption, she was not discriminated against.

    Dr Matthews actually wanted to be afforded different and privileged positive discrimination by her employers so that she could continue to negatively discriminate against same sex couples as she had done before equality legislation was introduced by simply refusing to consider the merits of their applications.

    Dr Matthews beef is not that she was discriminated against by her employer but that she wasn't granted special privileges by her employer. She was hoping to discriminate against those she personally disapproved of but failed to convince her employer to collude with her in this and she was rightly dropped.
  • preradstudent
    ...if I went to my boss and told them that I refused to work with (pick one: Jewish people, African Americans, homosexuals, Christians, redheads, immigrants)

    ...I'd be out of a job, too

    Why is this news?

    As for her claiming discrimination, lol... now isn't that the pot calling the kettle black!
  • DCM
    Are; you serious? First, comparing homosexuals with any of the rest is misleading. Secondly, adopting kids into a home with certain people goes well beyond "working with."

    "Discrimination" between right & wrong, as in discriminating "against" unhealthy & unnatural behavior, is never wrong.
  • Steven Riley
    DCM It is not a matter of what of what your perception of right and wrong happens to be.. In this particular case, it is a matter of British law which says agencies such as this one can not discriminate against homosexuals. It is the law plain and simple. You should be railing against the British legal system and not this agency. The adoption agency didnt simply remove this person because they disagreed with her, but because, after I checked further into this case, they were in danger of losing their license. The British are much tougher in inforcing discrimination cases than we are.

    You should check your facts before blaming the wrong people
  • DCM
    Typical. If you can't convince people with actual facts (because your position goes against the facts), simply remove those who disagree with you.
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