WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — Trump’s Department of Education announced Monday that it was initiating enforcement action against a Fairfax County, Virginia, high school where two public school employees allegedly arranged and funded abortions for two teenage girls without parental consent.
In a September 29 news release, the U.S. Department of Education’s (DOE) Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) announced the launch of an enforcement action to determine whether Fairfax County Public Schools is currently following the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), a federal privacy law that requires schools to give parents notice of an “invasive physical examination,” including abortions, and allow their child to opt out. Back in August, accusations surfaced that during the 2021-22 school year, a social worker for Centreville High School, Carolina Diaz, with the full backing of principal Chad Lehman, had scheduled appointments and paid for two minors to abort their unborn children without so much as calling their parents.
“It shocks the conscience to learn that school personnel in Fairfax have allegedly exploited their positions of trust to push abortion services on students without parental knowledge or consent. Children do not belong to the government—decisions touching deeply held values should be made within loving families. It is both morally unconscionable and patently illegal for school officials to keep parents in the dark about such intimate, life-altering procedures pertaining to their children,” Candice Jackson, the department’s acting general counsel, said in the announcement.
READ: Trump admin to cut millions in school funding over transgender, DEI policies
“The Trump Administration will not stand by idly as these abuses unfold in our schools. We will take swift and decisive action to put an end to this and restore parental authority, which stems from their ultimate responsibility for their children’s wellbeing,” she added.
ED has initiated enforcement action against Fairfax County, VA Public Schools under the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment after a district social worker reportedly scheduled an abortion appointment for a 17-year-old student without parental knowledge or consent.… pic.twitter.com/4uSmKb1Q6B
— U.S. Department of Education (@usedgov) September 29, 2025
As previously reported by LifeSiteNews, independent journalist Walter Curt uncovered how one girl, then age 17, underwent an abortion facilitated by Diaz, who swore her to silence. A second teen, five months pregnant at the time, pleaded with the social worker to let her keep her baby and then, after Diaz told her that undergoing an abortion was her “only choice,” fled the facility.
READ: Virginia school officials accused of facilitating secret abortions for two female students
Curt noted that Principal Lehman not only knew but also allowed school funding to be used to pay for the abortions.
“Principal Chad Lehman, the girls insist, knew – and taxpayers footed the bill,” Curt wrote. “If these allegations hold, Fairfax County Public Schools has transformed from educator to clandestine abortion financier – using taxpayer dollars to erase parental rights and strong-arm frightened girls.”
Per Curt’s original story, the second girl “later confided in her teacher, Mrs. Zenaida Perez, who allowed her name to be used on the record and provided The W.C. Dispatch a recording of the family confirming that no one at the school had ever informed them of the intent to terminate their daughter’s pregnancy.”
Perez also emphasized that she has been intimidated by the district to keep quiet, but that the intimidation won’t work on her: “I’m not going to stop until the truth comes out, no matter what. They are not going to stop me. I’m not afraid of them anymore.”
The PPRA enforcement gives the district until October 17 to investigate the accusations and provide the SSPO a written response.
The FCPS’s response must include documentation that they’ve issued a notice to all parents in the district informing them of their rights under PPRA from the 2021-22 school year through the current school year, all communications, directives, or training materials provided to school staff regarding the handling of sensitive medical services. The district must also provide all records related to the alleged facilitation of abortions and a statement explaining whether any DOE funds were used during the alleged facilitations.
Shortly after the allegations became public, Virginia Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin announced that he had directed the Virginia State Police to launch a criminal investigation into the accusations. Under Virginia law, girls under the age of 18 are required to receive parental consent at least 24 hours prior to undergoing an abortion.