South Dakota state education board approves prenatal videos for schools

The South Dakota Board of Education Standards has approved three prenatal education videos as part of the state's "Baby Olivia" law.

Key Takeaways:

• House Bill 1313 was signed into law by South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden earlier this year.

• The bill requires curriculum on prenatal development to be included in schools, including a high-definition ultrasound and a high-quality computer-generated rendering of prenatal development.

• The Board of Education Standards has approved three videos for use, including Live Action's "Baby Olivia" video.

The Backstory:

Rhoden signed House Bill 1313 into law in March, which required South Dakota schools to include prenatal development in its curriculum. Live Action founder and president Lila Rose applauded the legislation in a press release, saying:

... This law will help ensure that students in South Dakota are taught the reality of human development in the womb through medically accurate, visually compelling instruction, including resources like Live Action’s Baby Olivia and Baby Oliver videos, which reveal the humanity of the preborn child from the very beginning. 

With South Dakota now becoming the seventh state to enact this kind of life affirming prenatal education law, it joins Idaho, Kansas, Tennessee, North Dakota, Indiana, and Iowa in advancing fact based standards that teach students the truth about life before birth. I urge every state in the nation to follow this example with bold action that protects the preborn and supports mothers and families, so that every child is welcomed and every human life is cherished.” 

While Live Action's Baby Olivia wasn't explicitly mandated, the bill did require that the videos cannot include information from groups that commit or promote abortion, or are affiliated with a group that does, like Planned Parenthood. The videos were required to be age-appropriate and based on scientific research.

The Details:

The South Dakota Searchlight reported that the South Dakota Board of Education Standards approved three videos, which State Education Secretary Joe Graves said had all been vetted for scientific accuracy.

“Will there be a controversy somewhere? It’s possible. But I don’t see it being based on there being any inaccurate information in the videos,” Graves said.

One of the approved videos is Live Action's "Meet Baby Olivia," which features scientifically accurate computer animations showing milestones in prenatal development.

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

If schools choose the "Baby Olivia" video, it must be shown with “How a Human Embryo Develops into a Fetus,” which is produced by Encyclopedia Britannica. Both videos are freely available online.

The third option would cost schools money, starting at $29. It is a 42-minute DVD, titled, “The Biology of Prenatal Development,” and was created by the Endowment for Human Development. Shannon Malone, the department’s director of learning and instruction, said the state is considering licensing the DVD and making it available on its website.

The Bottom Line:

Multiple states across the country have enacted "Baby Olivia" legislation.

“Live Action and the medical experts we collaborated with stand by the scientific accuracy of every aspect in Baby Olivia,” Rose said. “Baby Olivia is a medically accurate, animated glimpse of human life from the moment of fertilization…. Every student in America should have access to world-class educational materials on the science behind human development in the womb.”