developed by anti-abortion groups

Grade school students in several Republican-led states may soon be required to watch a fetal development video produced by a prominent anti-abortion group as part of their curricula.

Live Action uploaded the “Baby Olivia” video featuring a British narrator and “Bridgerton”-esque background music in August 2021. It has since racked up more than 9 million views.

The organization says that the clip was reviewed and accredited by a group of doctors. They are all affiliated with anti-abortion or Christian organizations: American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American College of Pediatricians, Charlotte Lozier Institute, Christian Academic Physicians and Scientists, and Christian Medical and Dental Associations.

The video has been pitched as an educational tool for children in some states that enacted abortion restrictions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade nearly three years ago. Critics say the video is misleading and contains medical inaccuracies.

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“This isn’t sex education. This is a disinformation campaign designed to brainwash young children and force an out-of-touch and wildly unpopular regressive and false reproductive agenda in the public education system, using anti-abortion, anti-science propaganda about fetal development,” said Christine Soyong Harley, president and CEO of SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change last year.

Soyong Harley’s statement was a response to Tennessee lawmakers passing the Baby Olivia Act. Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed the legislation in April 2024.

Similar proposals are advancing this year in Arkansas, Iowa and Nebraska. The Arkansas House passed a measure last week that would make public school students in grades 5-12 watch the fetal development video. According to Arkansas Advocate, Democratic Rep. Steve Magie, an ophthalmologist, said fifth grade is too early to watch the video and derided the clip for measuring gestation from fertilization instead of a patient’s last menstrual period — an obstetrics standard.

Republican Rep. Mary Bentley, the bill’s sponsor and a nurse, said the video is accurate and endorsed by OB-GYNs who oppose abortion, the Advocate reported. “Kids are seeing so much already on their phones, and they’re hearing stuff in the bathroom,” she said. “I want them to see some truth and know what’s happening so they can have honest discussions.”

GOP lawmakers in Iowa are arguing that fetal development videos should be shown to first graders. While a state Senate bill does not reference the Live Action video, it says children in first through 12th grades should watch depictions of “the unborn child by showing prenatal human development, starting at fertilization,” Iowa Capital Dispatch reported. The state House passed a similar law referencing “Baby Olivia,” Live Action and anti-abortion groups last spring.

A Nebraska Republican filed a somewhat toned-down version in January. State Sen. Rick Holdcroft’s legislation would require education officials to adopt standards for human development curricula and show videos depicting the creation of vital organs, Nebraska Examiner reported.

The proposal was referred to an education committee last month. “Part of the bill is that if parents think that’s too much for their child, well, then they can opt out,” Holdcroft said.

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