Local News

New Hampshire teacher fired after driving student to get abortion

The state's education commissioner drew attention to the incident in an op-ed written in response to articles about his administration's "culture war."

Frank Edelblut, NH Education Commissioner. Nathan Klima for The Boston Globe

June 26, 2024

2 minutes to read

A New Hampshire teacher was fired and her license revoked after she took a pregnant student to get an abortion.

The teacher claims in a new lawsuit that the state’s education commissioner misrepresented the incident in a public op-ed in an effort to drive her out of the teaching profession.

“This conduct was plainly intended to intimidate (the fired teacher) into voluntarily surrendering her credentials and leaving education altogether,” complaint reads.

In a lawsuit filed Monday in Merrimack Superior Court, the anonymous teacher said Commissioner Frank Edelblut pushed a “misleading narrative” about the incident, which she said involved an 18-year-old student at a private institution. The complaint also said the 18-year-old did not reside with her biological parents.

“The gist of Edelblut’s public statement was that Doe helped a minor circumvent New Hampshire’s parental notification law,” the complaint said. “This was false and the Department— and by extension, Edelblut—knew that Student A was an adult months before Edelblut made the statement.”

The incident became public when Edelblut, who is named as a defendant in the suit, wrote an op-ed in response to New Hampshire Public Radio’s coverage of his so-called “culture war” within the school system.

“Allegedly, an educator lies by calling in sick so they can take a student – without parental knowledge – to get an abortion,” Edelblut wrote in April. “Should we turn a blind eye?”

Edelblut said parents have raised complaints to the state around things like a Trump flag allegedly being confiscated; teachers drinking alcohol while working; discussions in schools around pronouns, gender identity and Black Lives Matter; and depictions of oral and anal sex in school texts.

“When a constituent complaint reaches the Department, it is almost universally because the individual did not feel heard when they tried to resolve the situation locally,” Edelblut wrote. “Rather than view it as an intrusion into their world when the Department reaches out, school leaders should view it as feedback.”

The New Hampshire Department of Education posted evidence to back up Edelblut’s op-ed earlier this month, which included an investigative report the found the teacher lied about having food poisoning to take the student to her abortion appointment.

In the complaint, the teacher said the student told her and other teachers about her pregnancy last fall. The teacher, who is referred to int he suit as Doe, referred the student to a community health center and did not participate with the counseling. The student also said she didn’t want to tell her relatives.

“It was very important to Doe that she provided Student A with access to information and resources to make an informed decision but did not influence Student A’s decision,” the complaint said. “Doe wanted Student A to be empowered to make an informed decision about her own healthcare and expressed to Student A that she would do what she could to support her irrespective of her decision.”

The appointment was scheduled for the morning of a school day after the student chose to seek an abortion. When the student couldn’t find a ride, the teacher agreed to give her a ride “out of concern for (the student’s) safety and well-being,” according to the suit.

In the lawsuit, the teacher claims the department illegally revoked her teaching credentials after the incident without following proper disciplinary channels and broke confidentiality rules about the incident. She is suing to get her teaching credentials reinstated.

The department did not return a request for comment Wednesday.