Virginians Support Abortion Access, Period.
Don’t be distracted by the same playbook of conservative stories trying to manipulate your emotions.
By: Jasmine Geonzon, Reproaction Media Research Manager
A new report from a conservative newsletter writer alleges that a public school employee in Fairfax, Virginia assisted two high school students with accessing abortion care. As anti-abortion media sensationalize the report in the hopes of generating online outrage, it’s important for readers to think critically about why this report is coming out, and why now.
On August 5, 2025, conservative media personality Walter Curt published a report alleging that in 2021, a social worker for Centreville High School in the Fairfax County Public Schools system “scheduled the appointment” and “paid the clinic’s fees” for the abortion appointments of two students, one of who said she was 17 at the time. Curt claimed both incidents were greenlit by the school’s principal, paid for “through school funds,” and were subsequently covered up by the school system.
While Curt contends he has evidence for his claims, the Virginia Scope’s Brandon Jarvis has noted: “The article claims that the abortions took place at Fairfax Healthcare Center, which does not exist.”
Anti-abortion media quickly picked up the story. Fox News host Laura Ingraham aired a segment on August 7, interviewing Independent Women Forum president Carrie Lukas, described as a “Virginia parent,” to discuss the allegations as a threat to parents’ rights. Lukas offered a call to action: “You have a right to know anything that’s going on in schools. Demand information.”
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a national group which bills itself as the “political arm of the pro-life movement,” also latched onto Curt’s report to push its agenda of demonizing abortion care, accusing Fairfax schools of facilitating the “abortion trafficking of minors” and lambasting Virginia Democrats for allegedly imposing an “extreme agenda” on “unsuspecting parents and children.”
Another national anti-abortion leader, Kristan Hawkins, who heads Students for Life of America, remarked on the August 22 episode of her podcast that, “If this is true, this is horrific on many levels.” She further suggested that “maniacs” and “ideologues” have “infiltrated public schools.”
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This strategy has been applied time and again by conservative operatives looking to bolster electoral support for their preferred policies and politicians, with Virginia public schools at the center.
During the 2021 Virginia gubernatorial race, censorship-supporting conservatives stoked fears of “critical race theory” — now a dog whistle for those who oppose teaching children about racism — being taught in Loudon County, just west of neighboring Fairfax County. That same year, conservative media seized on another story about a teenage student who was assaulted in the bathroom of her Loudon County school, distorting the story to pin the attack on trans-inclusionary restroom policies, further fueling the culture war emblematic of Virginia’s 2021 election cycle.
Proponents of these news cycles would have audiences believe these are cases of well-meaning parents driving change in their local schools. But a look behind the curtain reveals these efforts are far from grassroots, and instead linked to some of the U.S. conservative movement’s most prominent leaders, lobbyists, and funders. For example: The same Carrie Lukas interviewed by Laura Ingraham in her capacity with the Independent Women’s Forum was primarily described as a “Virginia mother of five” in a 2021 Fox News segment fearmongering around “critical race theory,” with only a brief mention of her role at the Independent Women’s Forum, much like her interview with Ingraham.
Curiously, the writer who claims to have broken the news about the Fairfax County schools story lives in Ohio, according to his X profile, bringing into question his interest in a local school system from several states away in the first place. In recent days, the Virginia Scope unearthed Curt’s deep familial ties to Virginia politics: his father was a major donor to Republican state politicians Governor Glenn Youngkin, Lieutenant General Winsome Earle-Sears, and Attorney General Jason Miyares. However, Curt refutes that his father’s political relationships impact his reporting, claiming “I am a completely independent investigative journalist.”
Additionally, Curt’s August 19 appearance on the official Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America podcast illuminates the explicit connection between his reporting and out-of-state entities with an interest in meddling in Virginia politics. Such evidence suggests these efforts are far from organic.
A similar misinformation campaign surrounded Ohio’s abortion ballot measure. In 2023, I previously reported that the right-wing American Policy Roundtable, a national advocacy group, launched an effort to muddy the waters about Issue 1, spreading false claims through digital advertising and paper mailers sent to voters before the election.
The Fairfax County Public Schools story has all the hallmarks of a hyper-conservative media frenzy, timed just as coverage of this year’s state elections begins to simmer.
This fall, Virginians will vote on a new governor, and the House of Delegates’ slim 51–49 Democratic majority is also at stake. The newly elected House will choose whether the proposed amendment to enshrine reproductive health access in the state’s constitution will advance to the 2026 ballot. And the stakes are high: millions in the South rely on Virginia as their only access point for abortion care.
As a lifelong Virginian and an expert in abortion disinformation, it’s clear to me that national organizations such as Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and the International Women’s Forum are only involving themselves in local matters to sway public opinion in their favor, and rather than out of genuine concern about the Commonwealth.
Earlier this year, a Virginia Commonwealth University poll found that 62% of Virginians support a state amendment protecting abortion access. This should send a message to national political operatives: they’re wasting time with their transparent efforts to manipulate November’s electoral outcome.
Jasmine Geonzon is media research manager for Reproaction, which leads bold action to increase access to abortion and advance reproductive justice.
