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CLIVE, Iowa, March 28 (UPI) -- At least four states are considering legislation to follow North Dakota in mandating the showing of an animated fetal development video in elementary school classrooms. The particular video suggested, Meet Baby Olivia, developed by the anti-abortion organization Live Action, is factually incorrect and rife with misleading information.
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Following North Dakota's passage of a similar bill last year, lawmakers in Iowa, West Virginia, Missouri and Kentucky are discussing measures to require that Meet Baby Olivia, or a similar "computer-generated" or "animated" video, is shown to students at least twice in grades kindergarten through 12. The video must be 3 minutes or longer and show the development of the brain, heart, sex organs and other vital organs.
Critics call the move a blatant attempt to usher a political viewpoint into the classroom -- and to teach inaccuracies that may influence the views of students.
"This was created by a group that states its purpose is to promote a culture of life," state Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, an Iowa Democrat, told UPI. "This is just politics. The video is not scientifically correct. It does not meet any standards."
A Senate subcommittee in Iowa amended the bill to remove the reference to "Baby Olivia or something similar," but kept the animated video requirement. The House passed the bill; the Senate hasn't voted on it.
Similar bills have passed the West Virginia Senate and been introduced in Kentucky and Missouri. West Virginia and Kentucky's version of the bill specifically require Meet Baby Olivia to be shown.
Live Action, founded in 2008, is a non-profit organization that describes itself as non-partisan, but espouses a clear agenda opposing abortion. According to its website, the group "exists today to shift public opinion on the killing of preborn children and defend the rights of those most vulnerable among us."
Medical professionals have disputed some of the information in Meet Baby Olivia. For instance, the narrator states that life begins at fertilization; that "Olivia's" heartbeat can be detected 22 days after fertilization; and that brain activity can be recorded at 6 weeks.
The concept that life begins at conception is based more on ideology than scientific fact. Likewise, the term "fetal heartbeat" is not a scientific term, but a legal term that has been encoded in law in multiple states, typically to support legislation that bans abortion beyond a certain point.
Proponents of abortion bans argue that a fetus exists at the point of conception, which is also misleading. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, a fetus is not formed until the ninth week after fertilization -- the step that takes place about two weeks after conception. Prior to this, the cluster of cells is called an embryo.
Any semblance of a heartbeat is normally not detectable until five or six weeks after fertilization, though these observable pulses are not technically coming from a formed heart. ACOG notes that the heartbeat referenced in "fetal heartbeat bills" like the one Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law last year is actually an "electrically induced flickering of a portion of the fetal tissue that will become the heart as the embryo develops."
"Like much anti-abortion misinformation, the Baby Olivia video is designed to manipulate the emotions of viewers rather than to share evidence-based, scientific information about embryonic and fetal development," ACOG said in a statement to UPI.
"Many of the claims made in this video are not aligned with scientific fact, but rather reflect the biased and ideologic perspectives of the extremists who created the video. ACOG is strongly opposed to the spread of misinformation about reproductive health."
Republican state Rep. Luana Stoltenberg, one of the bill's sponsors in Iowa, told UPI the goal of the bill is to ensure that schools are teaching fetal development.
"The impetus for HF2617 is that schools are required to teach human growth class in schools, so we are wanting them to teach factual information on human fetal development in the womb," Stoltenberg said in an email to UPI. "The Baby Olivia video was a suggested tool to teach the factual curriculum in the classroom."
In 2023, North Dakota passed a similar bill. The final version does not cite Meet Baby Olivia, but the video was ever-present during debate.
North Dakota state Sen. Janne Myrdal, a Republican, told UPI she referenced Meet Baby Olivia during hearings as an example, noting it is free to use.
Of criticism that the video is factually inaccurate, Myrdal said those who oppose it are part of the abortion industry.
"For me, it wasn't a life issue. It was education," Myrdal said. "In North Dakota in first grade, it's mandated that they grow a plant of some kind because that would be something that is with you for the rest of your life -- the importance of food. When I discovered human development wasn't part of it I thought, 'well, that's odd.'"
Schools in North Dakota have since implemented the requirement to show a high-definition ultrasound video and "high-quality, computer-generated rendering or animation" that depicts fetal development. Some are using Meet Baby Olivia.
Opponents of the North Dakota bill didn't object to the content of the video, but that it sets curriculum standards for school districts.
Myrdal said lawmakers place many requirements on schools, so this one is not unusual. She has been in communication with the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction about the bill since its inception.
"We don't police every school," she said. "The local school board has local control. You can go on the Internet and use anything you want. The intent is just for children to know their origin and the beauty of that."
