3 States Advance 'Baby Olivia' Bill Requiring Schools to Teach Truth About Fetal Development

A handful of states recently advanced a pro-life bill that would require public school students to be shown a fetal development video as part of their health education.

The "Baby Olivia" bill requires middle and high school students to view a medically accurate video created by Live Action on fetal development from the moment of fertilization until birth.

Live Action is a non-profit pro-life organization founded by Lila Rose. 

So far, members of the Kentucky House advanced the bill as well as the West Virginia Senate, and the Iowa Senate.

"The bill ensures the teaching to our children of basic facts about human development in a very approachable way," Iowa Rep. Anne Osmundson (R-Volga) said of the video. "This is scientific information. This is teaching basic biology to our children. And it helps to answer one of life's biggest questions: where did I come from?"

While the laws do not require schools to play the video produced by Live Action, it does require that the educational material presented to children be "comparable."

The video reveals the remarkable development that takes place in the womb from a single-celled human to a baby with a beating heart, brainwaves, fingers, and toes. 

According to Live Action, the Baby Olivia video was created with "scientific accuracy" and reviewed by accredited medical professionals to show audiences the spectacular life of a baby growing within the womb. 

Since the animation's release, it has been viewed more than 30 million times, but it has not gone without censorship.

As CBN News reported, Lila Rose alleged in 2022 that TikTok banned advertisements of Baby Olivia while allowing Planned Parenthood to run $80,000 in advertising. 

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"We believe that one crucial step towards ending abortion in our country is saturating the online market with powerful and transformative pro-life content that counters pro-abortion lies and is proven to change minds and save lives," Rose said at the time. 

"We work hard to reach young people to expose the abortion industry and reveal the beauty of new life from the moment of fertilization. The longer we are suppressed on TikTok, the more lives that will be lost to abortion. The censorship must end," she added. 

Critics have claimed the video is "grossly inaccurate."

Iowa Rep. Molly Buck (D-Ankeny) said the "Baby Olivia" video "deliberately misinterprets the timeline of fertilization, the timeline of fetal heartbeat and other medical facts about fetal development."

"The question of when life begins is deeply personal," she argued. "It varies among individuals."

OB-GYN Kathi Aultman, MD, FACOG, has verified that the video is accurate, however. 

"Olivia draws back the curtain on the womb giving us a realistic glimpse of the baby within. As a retired OB-GYN, I wish this had been available for my patients," she said.

And a host of other OB-GYNs and other medical professionals have reviewed and endorsed the animation. 

Meanwhile, Live Action is urging other state lawmakers to make the "Baby Olivia" video a part of their state's education curriculum. 

"More and more young people believe that a child in the womb isn't a human being but simply 'tissue' or a 'clump of cells,' and countless schools are still in Planned Parenthood's grasp," reads Live Action's website.

"Young people need to be taught about the value of human life and the preciousness and dignity of children in the womb. Only then can we transform our society - but we must reach them before Planned Parenthood and Big Abortion do," it added.

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum signed a law into effect last year requiring "Baby Olivia" or equivalent video content to be shown in its public schools.

If you are interested in having a fetal development video be a part of your child's education, click here.