Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, many pro-life states have enacted legislation aimed at protecting unborn life. This has manifested in laws banning abortion after fetal heartbeat detection, outlawing "abortion trafficking" of minors, and by reallocating funds in order to support women who utilize pro-life pregnancy centers.
Late last month, one state announced that it would go a step further and implement a pro-life lesson into the curriculum in the state's public schools.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a piece of pro-life legislation into law that would require most schoolchildren to watch a three-minute video depicting fetal development from fertilization through the ninth month of pregnancy.
HB 2435/SB 2767, also known as the “Baby Olivia” bill, mandates the inclusion of the video in curriculum beginning in the 2024-2025 school year. According to The Tennessean, the law was named after an animation created by Live Action, a pro-life organization.
Predictably, The Tennessean, which is affiliated with USA TODAY, claimed that the video of fetal development is “based on one that does not align with the U.S. medical standard” because it describes an unborn child’s development beginning at fertilization and “not the U.S. medical standard of measuring gestational age based on a woman’s last menstrual period.”
In 2021, Townhall reported how “Baby Olivia” was released after a collaborative effort between the organization and world-class animators, top-notch OBGYNs, and former abortion doctors to create the realistic and precise representation of an unborn child (Olivia) growing in her mother’s womb. The three-minute-long video vividly portrays each stage of prenatal development from conception to 38 weeks of pregnancy.
“As I’ve encountered hundreds of thousands of women through my work with Live Action, I’ve always been frustrated by the lack of real education on prenatal development,” Live Action founder Lila Rose said in the statement about the video at the time. “I know the power of seeing your child on ultrasound, and I wanted to bring to life this little person developing rapidly each week.”
According to Live Action’s website, Baby Olivia was reviewed and authenticated by several medical experts.
“Baby Olivia should be shown to anyone considering abortion – in schools, at pregnancy resource centers, at churches, and in sidewalk advocacy,” Rose said in the statement “We can’t wait to see the impact Olivia makes.”
