Three state legislative bodies recently passed bills that would require all middle and high school students to watch a three-minute video that shows fetal development from the moment of conception as part of their health education curriculum.
The West Virginia State Senate, the Iowa State House, and the Kentucky House approved the video, known as the “Baby Olivia” video created by pro-life organization Live Action.
The bills would require students in public, private, parochial, or denominational schools throughout the three states to watch the video, which shows different stages of fetal development, complete with timestamps and a narrator describing Baby Olivia’s growth.
The West Virginia bill reads:
Beginning the 2024-25 school year, the course curriculum materials, as adopted by the state board by legislative rule, shall include… The Meet Baby Olivia video developed by Live Action, showing the process of fertilization and every stage of human development inside the uterus, noting significant markers in cell growth and organ development for every significant marker of pregnancy until birth.
The bills would also require the students to watch “A high-definition ultrasound video, at least three minutes in duration, showing the development of the brain, heart, sex organs, and other vital organs in early fetal development.”
A similar bill was passed in North Dakota last year.
Pro-abortion advocates recently pushed back against the Baby Olivia video being shown in schools and claimed that the depiction of fetal development is medically inaccurate.
However, Live Action maintains that the development shown is medically and scientifically accurate, as the video was created in collaboration with a panel of pro-life doctors, including embryonic and fetal development experts.
“Live Action and the medical experts we collaborated with stand by the scientific accuracy of every aspect in Baby Olivia,” Live Action Founder and President Lila Rose stated in a press release:
Baby Olivia is a medically accurate, animated glimpse of human life from the moment of fertilization… Every student in America should have access to world-class educational materials on the science behind human development in the womb.