The governor of Virginia (United States), Glenn Youngkin, is investigating reports that indicate that a local public school facilitated and financed abortions for minors without informing parents.
According to a informe de Walter Curt Dispatch Investigations Published at the beginning of this month, the staff of the Center High School, part of the Fairfax County Public Schools school district, would have organized abortions for two pregnant high school students in 2021.
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Youngkin said in A statement on Wednesday that he is “deeply concerned about accusations” and that will open “immediately a complete criminal investigation on this matter.”
According to the report, one of the young women, who was 17 at that time, aborted after a school official took her to an abortions clinic.
The other minor, who had five months pregnant, fled the clinic after a social worker took her there and supposedly told her that “he had no choice.”
Virginia has a law that requires notification to parents for abortion procedures. The state code requires that a doctor certify that at least one of the parents has been notified before practicing an abortion to a minor.
While there are exceptions in case the child obtains a judicial dispensation, researcher Walter Curt indicated that “there is no record of judicial dispensions in any of the files” that were provided.
The minors also alleged that the director of the College knew about abortions and used school funds to pay them.
“The reports indicate that school officials could have organized and paid abortions for several minors without notification to parents,” says the press release of August 13.
“They also indicate that the school administration could have known that this happened and that school funds would have been used, which could include local, state and federal funds,” he adds.
The Fairfax County Public Schools said in A statement At the beginning of the month that is “launching an immediate and exhaustive investigation” on these reports.
A note written by an 11. grade student of the ESOL program (English for speakers in other languages), translated by researchers, indicates that abortion occurred in November 2021, when he was 17 years old.
“Last year I went to see the social worker Carolina Díaz. She helped me with the termination of my pregnancy, that is, an abortion,” the young woman wrote in a note dated November 19, 2022.
According to the child, the social worker “scheduled the appointment at the Abortist Clinic in Fairfax, paid the costs of that medical procedure and kept everything in silence without informing my family.”
The school responded to complaints saying that he recently had knowledge of the accusations, although Walter Curt Dispatch Investigations said in a posterior report that the school authorities “knew it for months.”
Lila Rose, founder and president of Live Action, commented on research in a publication on social networks, qualifying the situation of “horrible.”
“All the people involved must account”, wrote Thursday in X.
Translated and adapted by ACI Press. Originally published in CNA.
Kate Quiñones
Kate Quiñones is a Catholic News Agency and Member of College Fix. It has publications on the Wall Street Journal, the Denver Catholic Register and Catholicvote. He graduated from Hillsdale College. Live in Colorado with her husband.