Virginia governor orders investigation into school that took students for abortions

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has ordered the Virginia State Police to investigate allegations that staff at a Fairfax County school took students for abortions without informing their parents and used public funds to pay for the abortions. It has since been revealed that the school district knew about the abortions for years.

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Youngkin instructed police to investigate the situation as a criminal matter.

Key Takeaways:

• Gov. Youngkin ordered the Virginia State Police to investigate allegations against a Fairfax principal and social worker who are accused of taking two students for abortions and using public funds to pay for them.

• Fairfax County Public Schools also announced it has “taken immediate action” with an investigation.

• Two students accused social worker Carolina Diaz of taking them for abortions, and principal Chad Lehman of having knowledge about the abortions. One of the students said she did not want an abortion and was able to flee from the abortion facility.

• The school claims to have just learned about the allegations last week, but documents and emails show it has known since 2022.

The Details:

Youngkin said the criminal investigation will be carried out following a report from the WC Dispatch.

“I am deeply concerned with the allegations that Fairfax County Public Schools officials arranged for minors to get abortions without parental consent and may have misused public funds to pay for them. I am directing the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation to open a full criminal investigation into the matter immediately,” he said.

Republican nominee for Lieutenant Gov. John Reid also spoke out in a statement, saying, “If this report is true, every single person involved should be investigated, fired, and potentially prosecuted. These are minor children. Parents weren’t notified. And public school employees allegedly helped them arrange abortions using tax-funded resources without parental consent or knowledge. That is not health care. That is government-sponsored abuse.”

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) also announced that it has “taken immediate action” with an investigation.

It has also been revealed that the school district has known about the abortions since 2022, despite saying it just learned about the situation this month and had taken “immediate action to engage an external independent investigator to get all the facts.”

The Backstory:

Reid commented that the staff at Centreville High School “helped them arrange abortions,” but it appears that at least one of the students was being forced into the abortion, and she was able to escape.

Social worker Carolina Diaz and principal Chad Lehman are accused of using school funds to pay for abortions for two students at the school. According to reports, staff took the girls to an abortion facility without telling their parents — a direct violation of Virginia’s parental notification law.

The first student was 17 at the time and she handwrote a statement in Spanish, accusing Diaz of taking her to get an abortion in November 2021.

The second student, also a minor, was five months pregnant and begged to keep her baby, but Diaz allegedly told the girl that she “had no choice” but abortion. The girl was able to flee and save her baby. The W.C. Dispatch reported that “The girl, terrified, ultimately bolted from the clinic rather than go through with the procedure.”

The first student later told her teacher, Zenaida Perez, about the incident. Perez went to the school administrators with the information, but said they tried to silence her.

“The girl never wanted that abortion, and her family was never told,” she said. The girl’s family confirmed in a recording that the school never told them about the abortion appointment.

FCPS also allegedly knew about the abortions years ago. In a nearly three-hour interview with FCPS attorney Mary McGowan earlier this month, Perez said she had blown the whistle seven times about the abortions since May 2022. Rather than investigate, she said the school district ignored her and attempted to force her into silence.

She said she first told FCPS about the scandal on May 5, 2022, in a meeting with then-principal Chad Lehman and assistant principal Michael Parker. She then sent a letter about the scandal to Lehman and Parker on May 13, 2022, and met with Lehman in November 2022 after contacting him a third time. There is an audio recording of that meeting.

She explained:

And Mr. Lehman told me, ‘Ms. Perez, a pregnancy test is nothing. But an abortion. Because I told him that Carolina Diaz facilitated an abortion for a student. …

In November 2021, when she turned 17 years old, she got pregnant. She went to see Carolina Diaz, and [Diaz] facilitated the appointment and all the logistics for an abortion. … And then I told Mr. Parker all that about it. And then I sent an email about the pregnancy cover-up to Mr. Lehman and the abortion and all that. And he didn’t do anything….

He said, ‘I don’t remember that conversation with you.’ And I said, ‘Don’t worry about it. I have the email that I sent you on May 16th when we had the meeting here in your office. And I brought to your attention — the social worker provides pregnancy solutions. I mean, abortions.’

And then they didn’t do anything. He pretended he was working really hard, contacting the nurse and social worker. … The legal guardian knew nothing…. And I have all the evidence about that.

According to Fox News, “In the spring of 2022, Perez told the school board investigator she was blindsided when Lehman asked her if she’d given a pregnancy test to a student. She hadn’t, but she did learn that a teen student from Guatemala told her that the school social worker had made an appointment for the student to get an abortion at a Falls Church, Va., clinic in November 2021, and paid the expenses.”

On March 7, Perez said she spoke out again during a Zoom call with Heidi Siegmund, an attorney investigating a separate workplace harassment report at the school. And on March 19, Siegmund wrote to Perez saying she would “make sure the Division Counsel’s office is aware of your concerns.”

It was just last week that the school claimed it had just learned about the allegations against Lehman and Diaz.

Editor’s Note: This article may be updated with new information as it becomes available.

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