Virginia governor investigates reports of public schools arranging abortions for minors

CNA Staff, Aug 14, 2025 / 16:57 pm (CNA).

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is investigating reports that a local public school facilitated and funded abortion procedures for minors without informing the parents.

Staff at Centreville High School, part of the Fairfax County Public Schools district, arranged abortions for two pregnant high school girls in 2021, according to a report by Walter Curt Dispatch Investigations from earlier this month.

Youngkin said in a press release on Wednesday that he is “deeply concerned with the allegations” and is opening “a full criminal investigation into this matter immediately.”

According to the investigative report, one of the girls, who was 17 years old at the time, had an abortion after a school official brought her to the abortion facility.

The other girl, who was five months pregnant, ran from the clinic after a social worker brought her there and allegedly told her she “had no other choice.”

Virginia has a parental-notification law for abortion procedures. Virginia code requires a physician to certify that at least one parent has been notified before performing an abortion on a minor. While there are exceptions if a minor obtains a judicial bypass, investigator Walter Curt said that “no bypasses appear in either case file” that was provided to him.

The girls also alleged that the principal knew about the abortions and used school funds to pay for them.

“Reports allege school officials may have arranged and paid for abortions for multiple minors without parental notification,” read the Aug. 13 press release. “Reports also indicate that the school administration may have known this was happening, and that school funding may have been used, which could include local, state, and federal funds.”

Fairfax County Public Schools said in a statement earlier this month that it is “launching an immediate and comprehensive investigation” into the reports.

A handwritten note from an 11th-grade ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) student, translated by the investigators, said the abortion took place in November 2021, when she was 17.

“Last year I went to see social worker Carolina Diaz. She helped me with the termination of my pregnancy — that is, an abortion,” the girl wrote in a note dated Nov. 19, 2022.

The social worker, the girl said, “scheduled the appointment for me at the abortion clinic in Fairfax, paid the costs of that medical procedure, and kept everything quiet without informing my family.” 

The school addressed the claims in a statement, saying they recently learned of the allegations, though Walter Curt Dispatch Investigations said in a follow-up report that school officials “have been aware for months.”

Live Action Founder and President Lila Rose commented on the investigation in a post on social media, calling the situation “horrific.”

“Every person involved must be held accountable,” she said in a Thursday post on X.

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/265957/virginia-governor-investigates-reports-of-public-schools-arranging-abortions-for-minors