Michelle McCusker was hired to teach pre-kindergartners at the St. Rose of Lima School in Queens. She loved her job and was hired on a teaching contract set to last for one year.
However, a month after school began, McCusker told school officials she was pregnant but would keep the baby rather than have an abortion. She was fired.
This reads as if Miss McCusker was fired because she wouldn't have an abortion. But is this the case?
McCusker has filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against the school, which is run by the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. But the school defends its decision.
"The school requires its teachers to convey the faith, to convey the gospel values and Christian traditions of the Catholic faith," Frank DeRosa, a spokesman for the Diocese of Brooklyn, told ABC News.
Feminists for Life steps in:Serrin Foster, president of Feminists for Life, says the firing sends the message to women and employees that they should have abortions if they become pregnant.
"When an employer fires a woman for carrying a child to term, they send an unintended message: An abortion will cover up the sex," she says.
"How would the employer feel if they later learned that their actions contributed to pressuring Ms. McCusker into having an abortion," she asked.
"The compassionate response to a woman who is carrying a child should be to ask if she needs help," Foster explained. She added that firing a pregnant woman is to "cause a crisis for her by taking her career, her income, and the obstetric/prenatal care that is critical to the health and well being of both mother and unborn child."
What's the answer? Abortion is — and this should go without saying — is not an option.
My prayers are certainly with Miss McCusker, her child, and the Diocese of Brooklyn, and I know you're joining in these prayers.Here's the question: is the Diocese of Brooklyn wrong in its stance?
I'm asking you because I really don't know.
Here's the whole article.
