Members of the Kentucky House advanced a bill last week that would require public school students to be shown a fetal development video as part of their health education. The video could be Live Action’s “Baby Olivia,” or something similar.
“Baby Olivia” uses realistic, digital animation to depict medically-accurate information about the preborn child’s life in the womb, capturing significant growth and development milestones from the moment of fertilization through birth.
Dubbed the “Baby Olivia Act,” House Bill 346 requires schools to show a “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.” Parents would be given the opportunity to opt their children out of viewing the video if they so choose.
The bill is being sponsored by Rep. Nancy Tate, R-Brandenburg. Tate told the Herald-Leader the the video “is meant to be an addition to science class, (because) it’s really important for children to understand human development.”
Opponents of the bill are criticizing it because they say the Baby Olivia video “humanizes” the preborn child.
“It’s banking on a lack of education in a general audience,” claimed Dr. Miranda Bencomo, a resident physician studying pediatrics. “You are seeing a being reacting to stimulus in the same way in the same way leaves on a tree turn toward sunlight. There are certain things that are trying to make an emotional pull that are not appropriately explained.”
Of course, it should be obvious that a developing human being is far different and far more complex than a leaf growing on a tree.
Though the video contains scientifically accurate information about the development of the preborn child, the abortion industry has continued to try and detract from its accuracy with claims such as these. However, the video content was created with information from the detailed “award-winning content” from the Endowment for Human Development (EHD), which is a non-partisan organization. The video looks at the remarkable development of the child in the womb, from before the first heartbeat to the development of arms and legs, to stretching, yawning and thumb-sucking — which are far more that just ‘reacting to a stimulus.’
A number of board-certified physicians and other medical professionals have verified “Baby Olivia’s” medical accuracy, including certified OB-GYN Kathi Aultman, MD, FACOG.
“Olivia is a spectacular and medically accurate portrayal of the development of a baby girl within the womb. It is based on information from the Endowment for Human Development, a highly respected scientific source on embryology and fetal development,” stated Dr. Aultman. “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.”
Many abortion advocates have also complained because Live Action is a pro-life organization, though, as Tate pointed out, the bill does not require that schools use “Baby Olivia” specifically. “This bill does not require Live Action’s video,” she said. It just calls for “human development in the womb (to be) communicated in video form.”
