WASHINGTON—A Virginia school district has been accused of pushing minor Hispanic students to abort their unborn babies — a move that Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy is warning may have violated federal law.
In a letter exclusively obtained by The Daily Wire, the Louisiana Republican calls on Fairfax County Public Schools to explain whether it paid for the abortion of a young girl’s baby, without her parents’ knowledge or consent, and warns the district that “a school official pressuring minor students to obtain covert abortions using school funding is illegal and, if proven, requires concrete action by your school board to hold the perpetrators accountable.”
Fairfax County Public Schools did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Daily Wire. However, in August, Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Michelle Reid claimed that the district had only just learned about the allegations that week and stated that such behavior would never have been tolerated.
“We will see this investigation through with the utmost seriousness, taking swift and appropriate action once we have the facts,” Reid said. “It is my commitment to share the key findings of that investigation as soon as I am able.”
Cassidy, a physician who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, writes that in 2021, school officials arranged and paid to abort the baby of a young girl, a minor student, and “attempted to do the same for another student” without the consent of these girls’ parents. The incident took place at Centreville High School, where school social worker Carolina Diaz allegedly pressured two girls to abort their babies and used school funds to pay for the abortions. A whistleblower teacher says that she brought her concerns to school administrators seven times without success.
“One 17-year-old girl ultimately had an abortion, while another student who was five months pregnant fled from the abortion clinic in fear after being pressured to have an abortion,” Cassidy wrote. “Both of these young girls allege that the school social worker, Carolina Diaz, pressured them into having abortions and told one of the girls that she ‘had no other choice.’ On top of the already horrific situation of a school official pressuring minor students to obtain abortions, it is alleged that school funds were used to pay for the abortion.”
The senator expresses deep concerns that Fairfax County Public Schools “seems to be concealing the fact that these allegations were brought to the school’s attention years ago but ignored by school officials.”
“Public reporting states that a Centreville High School teacher, Zenaida Perez, claims to have notified school officials about the abortions seven separate times since May 2022, only to be ignored and then retaliated against for blowing the whistle on this conduct,” wrote Cassidy. “However, in an email to Centreville High School staff and families on August 7, 2025, you claim that the school board only learned about these allegations ‘earlier this week.'”
Virginia Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin directed state police to open a criminal investigation into the allegations on August 13, noting that school funds may have been used to abort babies, including local, state, and federal funds.
“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 at the time. “I am directing the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation to open a full criminal investigation into the matter immediately.”
FCPS receives about $50 million a year in financial aid from the federal government, Cassidy noted, and the Hyde Amendment prohibits federal education funding from being used to fund abortions.
“As Chairman of the HELP Committee, I am determined to ensure that federal education funds are not being misused in violation of the law and parents’ rights to protect their children,” wrote Cassidy. “Given the seriousness of the allegations and the potential that federal funds were used by school officials to pressure minor students into receiving covert abortions without parental consent, it is imperative for the Committee to determine whether any federal funds were misused and whether the Hyde Amendment or other relevant laws were violated.”
The senator called on FCPS to share, by October 6, their reporting requirements when school officials become aware that a student is pregnant. He also requested that the district share “what actions, if any, are taken in response to a school’s awareness of a student’s pregnancy.”
“In your response,” he notes, “please detail the reporting structure and provide any school-issued guidance or policy documents.”
Sarah Zagorski, senior director of public relations and communication at Americans United for Life, argued to The Daily Wire in early September that “parents deserve better” than the alleged treatment at the school. She mentioned a Fairfax County school board meeting where parents, educators, and community leaders asked questions about the alleged coerced abortions, questioning “whether these were isolated incidents or part of a broader pattern of overriding parental rights and disregarding state law.”
“The allegations are deeply troubling given both of the girls involved were underage. [Teacher and whistleblower Zenaida Perez] says that one student, who was five months pregnant and wanting to keep her baby, said she felt like she ‘had no choice.’ The other girl told Perez she was terrified because her legal guardians did not know about her abortion.”
“Children need protection and parental guidance, especially when faced with an unplanned pregnancy, not forced secrecy by adults attempting to usurp fundamental rights of parents to make decisions regarding the well-being of their children,” wrote Zagorski. “Girls from marginalized communities, including Hispanic girls from Centreville High School, deserve better than betrayal from people they should trust and cover-ups by school bureaucrats.”