Students could see pregnancy video produced by anti-abortion group under advancing bill

A bill requiring public schools to teach students about “human growth and development” that could include a computer-generated video produced by an anti-abortion nonprofit was approved in a House committee on Thursday.

According to House Bill 346 from Rep. Nancy Tate, R-Brandenburg, named the “Baby Olivia Act,” each public school district, starting in middle school, would be required to screen a presentation of a “high-definition video, at least three minutes in duration, showing the development of the brain, heart, sex organs and other vital organs in early fetal development.”

As Tate told members of the House Standing Committee on Health Services Thursday, it would “require school districts to adopt curriculum for students in grades 6 or above that includes instruction on human growth and development.”

She added, “this act is important for children and, for that matter, to adults to understand human development.”

Under the bill, the curriculum must include “high-quality, computer-generated rendering or animation 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 week of pregnancy until birth.”

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The “Baby Olivia Act” — and the specific video parameters it calls for — is a reference to the “Meet Baby Olivia” video.

It’s produced by Live Action, an anti-abortion group espousing the Christian worldview that “life begins at fertilization” and refers to itself as a “digital leader of the global pro-life movement.”

Previously, Tate told the Herald-Leader the Baby Olivia video “is meant to be an addition to science class, (because) it’s really important for children to understand human development.”

But Tate insisted Thursday her bill does not require this specific video be screened — though districts would have that option. Rather, it requires the Baby Olivia video or another one like it, she said.

“This bill does not require Live Action’s video,” Tate said. It just calls for “human development in the womb (be) communicated” in video form, and parents would have a say in whether their children watched it.

Live Action, the production company responsible for the video, was founded by Lila Rose, who celebrated the fall of Roe v. Wade by saying in 2022, “We are now living in a time where completely ending abortion is possible.”

Opponents of the bill, including committee Democrats, pushed back against that assertion; clearly this is the video Tate wants schools to show, Rep. Lindsey Burke, D-Lexington said, and suggesting otherwise is “disingenuous.” Burke called the video “inflammatory” with a “very narrow perspective.”

Questions rise around medical inaccuracies

The Baby Olivia video, just over three minutes long, begins with the fertilization of an egg, showing its development into an embryo, then a fetus through all stages of pregnancy until birth.

A narrator explains each stage, at times detailing aspects of pregnancy and presenting them as fact, even though the reality is more complex.

For example, over a computer-generated clip of an embryo with a consistent heartbeat, the narrator explains that at three weeks gestation, “Olivia’s heartbeat can be detected.”

While the heart begins to form during the third week of pregnancy, describing this early fetal cardiac activity as a “heartbeat” — which typically begins around the sixth week of pregnancy, not the third — is misleading.

According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, “It is clinically inaccurate to use the word ‘heartbeat’ to describe the sound that can be heard on ultrasound in very early pregnancy.”

Among the list of health care providers who “reviewed and certified” the video include a handful who are affiliated with the Charlotte Lozier Institute, a conservative think tank researching the “value of human life,” and the right-leaning American College of Pediatricians, not to be confused with the American Academy of Pediatrics, a major medical association.

The American College of Pediatricians has lobbied state governments in recent years to pass laws restricting abortion, as well as laws limiting or banning gender-affirming health care, including in Kentucky.

Katie Gardner, a nurse and sexual health educator, criticized the Baby Olivia video in committee as “biased and scientifically inaccurate.”

Miranda Bencomo, a pediatric resident at UofL Health, said she fears “we are drawing inspiration from a source that is not a scientifically-backed source (and) very much a group that has a philosophical and political agenda.”

But Chair Kim Moser, R-Taylor Mill, implied opponents were missing the point.

“It really is a very general starting point for conversation with kids (and) an example of a human growth and development video,” Moser said. “No one is saying it needs to be this one. We’re beginning a conversation. I invite parents, educators and our physician groups to be involved in this conversation.”

In a tense exchange, Rep. Adrielle Camuel, D-Lexington, asked Tate whether she consulted any Kentucky educator or physician groups before filing this legislation.

Tate said it’s within the “purview” of the General Assembly “to determine (if) this type of information should be shared with our children.”

While her bill “does require age appropriate accurate information,” Tate restated that it “does not require the Live Action Baby Olivia video, so I don’t know (if) your question is appropriate.”

Moser then cut off Camuel’s line of questioning.

“I’m concerned with medically accurate information,” Camuel said.

“You’re in the right place, then,” Moser retorted.

The bill now heads to the House for votes.