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Gay News: A Christian doctor has claimed she was forced from her job because of her views on gay adoption
By: Nigel Robinson
Sheila Matthews
Sheila Matthews
Doctor to take gay adoption to European Court of Justice
15 November 2010
Doctor Sheila Matthews resigned from her position on the Northamptonshire Council Adoption Panel, after stating that children should only be placed with heterosexual couples.
She will be asking an employment tribunal in Leicester today to refer her case to the European Court of Justice, claiming religious discrimination.
Her case is being backed by the Christian Legal Centre which said that the case was a vital one for religious and professional freedom, and could affect the careers of many Christian and other professional medical staff and the futures of children in need of adoption.
In a statement Doctor Matthews said: “I understand that legislation permits same-sex couples to adopt, but I have professional concerns based on educational and psychological evidence of the influences on children growing up in homosexual households and I feel that this is not the best possible option for a child.
“I do not consider myself to be homophobic. However, I believe that children do best in families with a father and a mother playing different roles in a child’s upbringing and committed to each other in a lifelong relationship…
“My view arose from both a professional one from my reading of the literature, and an historical Christian perspective of relationships based on the Bible, an authority which our court system still uses to swear in those giving evidence and juries based on its authority.
Northamptonshire County Council has so far refused to comment on the matter.
