Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday he will be launching an investigation into allegations made about school-funded abortions in Fairfax County.
Youngkin said he was compelled to investigate the matter after a report was published detailing allegations about a school staff member employed with Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) facilitating abortions for students in 2021, while they were still minors and without parental consent, according to a press release.
“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,” Youngkin said. “I am directing the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation to open a full criminal investigation into the matter immediately.”
The report alleges school officials may have been involved with paying for and arranging abortions for multiple minor students without notifying their parents.
It further alleges school administrative staff had knowledge of what was going on and possibly used school funding that comes directly from local, state, and federal funds to facilitate the abortions.
Included in the report was a handwritten note from an underage student and alleged interviews with a Fairfax County Schools teacher supporting the allegations, according to the Virginia Scope.
Fairfax Superintendent Michelle Reid said in a letter last week that the school district will be hiring its own investigator to look into the allegations.
“I want to stress that at no time would the situation as described in these allegations be acceptable in Fairfax County Public Schools,” Reid wrote. “We all have serious questions about these allegations that must be answered. We all deserve to know what happened, and at my direction, the division has taken immediate action to engage an external independent investigator to get all the facts.”
FCPS said in a statement that while it is prepared to fully cooperate with the investigation, the district remains focused on preparations for the start of the school year.
Fairfax Democratic Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell said the Fairfax County Police Department is one of the most professional departments in Virginia, arguing Youngkin did not need to involve the state police in the investigation.
