{"id":235304,"date":"2020-11-28T13:49:49","date_gmt":"2020-11-28T19:49:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=235304"},"modified":"2023-11-14T20:28:31","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T02:28:31","slug":"uk-midwifery-student-apology-settlement-suspension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/uk-midwifery-student-apology-settlement-suspension\/","title":{"rendered":"UK midwifery student wins apology and settlement after facing suspension for being pro-life"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

(Right to Life UK<\/a>)\u00a0A midwifery student, who faced suspension from her studies due to her involvement in the university pro-life society, has won an apology and payout<\/a> from her university.<\/p>\n

Julia Rynkiewicz, 25, faced suspension from the University of Nottingham and a four-month-long fitness-to-practice investigation in 2019 as a result of lecturers raising concerns about her being pro-life.<\/p>\n

In January of this year, university officials U-turned on their decision and dismissed the case against her. Julia asked for an apology<\/a> \u201cas a matter of justice\u201d so that \u201cthey realise they have done wrong and will change it so that no one else has to go through what I have\u201d.<\/p>\n

After a formal complaint was filed, the university has now conceded a settlement and apology.<\/p>\n

Putting my life on hold<\/strong><\/p>\n

Julia said: \u201cPutting my life on hold because of an unjust investigation was really difficult, both mentally and emotionally\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe settlement demonstrates that the university\u2019s treatment of me was wrong, and while I\u2019m happy to move on, I hope this means that no other student will have to experience what I have\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened to me risks creating a fear among students to discuss their values and beliefs, but university should be the place where you are invited to do just that\u201d.<\/p>\n

A University of Nottingham spokesperson said: \u201cWhile all universities take fitness-to-practice considerations extremely seriously, the university has offered an apology and settlement to Ms Rynkiewicz and is considering how we might approach such cases differently in future\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe university and Students\u2019 Union supports the rights of all students to bodily autonomy and access to safe, legal abortion services, which is the position in law\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cUniversities should be spaces to debate, discuss and disagree points of view, and with more than 200 student societies, covering the full range of beliefs and perspectives, we are confident this is the case at Nottingham\u201d.<\/p>\n

Pattern of discrimination<\/strong><\/p>\n

Julia had served as president of the student pro-life group, Nottingham Students for Life (NSFL), which itself was initially denied affiliation to the Students\u2019 Union. This viewpoint discrimination only ended after NSFL threatened legal<\/a> action and the decision was overturned in July 2019.<\/p>\n

One of the chief concerns surrounding her fitness-to-practice investigation was Julia\u2019s public involvement with NSFL.<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Sweden has a midwife shortage \u2014 but if you\u2019re pro-life, you might be turned away<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The University of Nottingham is not alone in this kind of viewpoint discrimination. In the last three years, student representative bodies at Aberdeen University<\/a>, Glasgow University<\/a> and Strathclyde University<\/a> have all tried to prevent student pro-life groups from being affiliated with their university and benefiting from the same privileges available to any other student group. In each of these cases, the student unions had to reverse their decision after the groups threatened legal proceedings against them. Pro-life students at the University of Birmingham also faced significant opposition in the formation of their group.<\/p>\n

Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s good to see the university admitting its wrongdoing. The fact that this happened at all though, is a strong indication that the university does not take its commitment to debate and discussion seriously.<\/em><\/p>\n

Worryingly, 38% of students <\/a>fear their future careers would be adversely affected if they express their true opinions. So long as universities continue to discriminate against mainstream views, pro-life and others, debate and discussion will continue to be stifled and students will increasingly fear reprisals from their university.<\/em><\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: This article was published at Right to Life UK<\/a> and is reprinted her with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Right to Life UK)\u00a0A midwifery student, who faced suspension from her studies due to her involvement in the university pro-life society, has won an apology and payout from her university. Julia Rynkiewicz, 25, faced suspension from the University of Nottingham and a four-month-long fitness-to-practice investigation in 2019 as a result of lecturers raising concerns about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":669,"featured_media":235305,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[7077,7,4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nUK midwifery student wins apology and settlement after facing suspension for being pro-life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A midwifery student who faced suspension from her studies due to involvement in the university pro-life society, has won an apology and payout.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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