'Baby Olivia Act' introduced in Ohio to add prenatal education to health class

Ohio is the latest state to introduce "Baby Olivia" legislation, aiming to promote prenatal development education using ultrasound and scientifically accurate computer animation.

Key Takeaways:

• Ohio Rep. Melanie Miller introduced the Baby Olivia Act, which would require education on prenatal development in public schools.

• Multiple other states have introduced and/or passed similar prenatal education laws.

• These laws are inspired by Live Action's "Baby Olivia" video, which was created with a panel of medical experts and portrays human prenatal development through all nine months of pregnancy using lifelike computer animation.

The Details:

Miller announced the bill in a press conference on September 30, with House Bill 485 officially introduced into the Ohio House of Representatives.

"This legislation centers around the importance of making sure that Ohio's public school students have a more complete, science-based understanding of human development in the early stages," Miller said. "What we teach in our health classes makes a big difference in the lives and futures of our students, and we should do everything that we can do to provide the most accurate, engaging information available to ensure that they are prepared when they are faced with a life-changing decision."

The bill would require public school students in grades 3-12 to receive accurate, age-appropriate information about the biological "processes of life" in classes discussing human growth, development, or sexuality. The text of the bill as introduced states:

The curriculum shall include, at a minimum, both of the following:

(1) A high-definition ultrasound video, at least three minutes in duration, showing the development of the brain, heart, sex organs, and other vital organs in early fetal development;

(2) The meet baby Olivia video developed by live action, or its successor entity, showing the process of fertilization and each stage of human development inside the uterus, noting significant markers in cell growth and organ development for every stage of pregnancy until birth.

"We're hoping that we can change the culture to be celebrating life instead of destroying life," Miller said.

A Never Before Seen Look At Human Life In The Womb | Baby Olivia

If passed, Ohio would join six other states which have already passed similar legislation; an additional 18 have introduced the bills.

The Backstory:

Baby Olivia was created with guidance from physicians, many of whom are experts in embryonic and fetal development, such as Dr. David Bolender; Dr. Donna Harrison; Dr. Tara Sander Lee; Dr. Katrina Furth; Dr. Michelle Cretella; and Dr. Jeffrey Barrows, DO, MA. All of them have endorsed the video.

Additionally, much of the information in the Baby Olivia video comes from the Endowment for Human Development (EHD), a “nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health science education and public health” which remains neutral on bioethics issues. It has published an award-winning prenatal development DVD using similar milestones and the same timeline for prenatal development “Baby Olivia.” EHD's DVD is distributed by National Geographic.

Baby Olivia also makes no comments about abortion, though that has not kept abortion apologists from spreading lies about the content of the video.

The Bottom Line:

Students deserve to be educated about the realities of human development from the beginning of a new human being's life: fertilization.