Lawmakers in the Oklahoma House passed a prenatal development education bill Wednesday that could utilize videos like Live Action’s “Baby Olivia” in the state’s classrooms.
House Bill 1603, sponsored by Rep. Emily Gise (R-Oklahoma City), mandates fetal growth and human development instruction to the state’s high schoolers, using a “high-definition ultrasound video, at least three minutes in duration, showing the development of the fetus in a biological woman” and a “high-quality, computer-generated rendering or animation showing the process of fetal development, highlighting significant markers in cell growth and organ development until birth.”
The “Baby Olivia” video meets the second of these requirements. The video depicts the development of life in the womb, featuring a timeline for prenatal milestones. It was created by Live Action in collaboration with medical experts, using data from the Endowment for Human Development (EHD), a non-profit organization “committed to neutrality regarding all controversial bioethical issues,” which has created its own award-winning prenatal development DVD that is distributed by National Geographic.
“Baby Olivia” has been heavily attacked by abortion supporters, who have made wild claims, even calling it “Christian nationalist indoctrination” and “propaganda.” Live Action News has repeatedly debunked claims that the “Baby Olivia” video is medically inaccurate (with the main objection being that it tracks human development from fertilization onward instead of adding an additional two weeks for the time period between menstruation and ovulation/conception), and the video makes no mention of religion, or even abortion — it simply presents a scientifically accurate look at the human’s development in the womb, thereby demonstrating that child’s humanity. The video quickly unravels the false idea that a preborn child is merely a “glob” or a “clump of cells.”
“House Bill1603 is about promoting a culture of life—rooted in compassion, backed by science and shaped by conservative principles,” Rep. Gise said. “This is a proactive and practical approach to building a society that honors both the dignity of life and the importance of truth.”
“The more information we can provide young people about the development of human life, the better equipped they will be to make informed decisions in the future,” she explained. “This curriculum presents the biological facts of fetal development in an educational and age-appropriate manner.”
Parents would also be allowed to opt-out their child out of the prenatal development instruction if they so choose.
“This bill ensures that parents remain the primary decision-makers in their child’s education while giving students access to critical information that could change the course of their lives,” said Gise.
The bill passed with a 75-18 vote and next heads to the Senate for consideration. If it passes there and is signed into law, it will go into effect November 1.
